IPL 7: Rajasthan Royals thrash Delhi Daredevils by 7 wickets

NEW DELHI: Karun Nair notched up an unbeaten 73 to help Rajasthan Royals chase down 153-run target with nine balls to spare against Delhi Daredevils in IPL 7 match.
Earlier, opener Quinton de Kock fired at the top while in-form JP Duminy provided the late charge to power Delhi Daredevils to a competitive 152/5 against Rajasthan Royals in their IPL 7 match at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Saturday.
De Kock blasted 43 off 33 balls, which was studded with five fours and a six, while Duminy smashed 39 off 31 balls, laced with four fours and one six, after Delhi were asked to take first strike by Rajasthan Royals.
Kedar Jadhav's cameo of 28 from 14 balls helped them cross the 150-run mark.
For Rajasthan, James Faulkner (2/26) and Pravin Tambe (2/25) were the prime performers.
Skipper Shane Watson used six different bowlers in the powerplay and it was Faulkner who drew the first blood, dismissing opener Murali Vijay (13) off a back of the length delivery which was pouched by the skipper at mid-off.
Young De Kock did most of the scoring in the Powerplay, blasted three fours and a six over the leg side boundary as Delhi were 46-1 in six overs.
Skipper Kevin Pietersen too should have been back in the hut as he was found short by a throw from wicketkeeper by in the first ball of seventh over by Rajat Bhatia. But on-field umpire Sanjay Hazare didn't refer it to the third umpire, thus giving Pietersen a respite when he was on 2.
However, the umpiring goof-up didn't hurt Rajasthan much as Pravin Tambe had Pietersen (14) caught at long-on by Steven Smith in the 10th over.
De Kock, who was playing well so far at the other end, too ended up giving a simple catch to Tambe on the last ball as Delhi slipped to 72 for three in 10 overs.
The twin strike by Tambe brought two newman -- Dinesh Karthik and JP Duminy -- at the crease and they tried to steady the ship with a 24-run stand in 32 balls.
Faulkner was the one who broke the stand when he had Karthik, hole out to Stuart Binny at deep square leg in the 16th over.
Jadhav then joined Duminy in the middle and he brought up the 100 for Delhi with a six which flew off the top-edge in the last ball.
Duminy then picked up a four in the next over off Dhawal Kulkarni, who replaced spinner Iqbal Abdulla in the playing XI. The South African blasted two more boundaries to pile up 11 runs off Kane Richardson. The duo blasted one four each in the 19th over by Faulkner to accumulate quick runs.
In the last over, Duminy blasted a Richardson ball over square leg for another six but the Australian had his revenge in the next ball itself when Rajat Bhatia took a sensational catch at the boundary line. The duo added 46 off 25 balls.
Jadhav then smashed a four and a six to take Delhi across the 150-mark.