DC vs RR: Chris Morris 'the million dollar man' guides Rajasthan Royals home against Delhi Capitals

Chris Morris finished the contest unbeaten on 36 from 18 balls as Royals won the contest by three wickets.

DC vs RR: Sanju Samson in action against Delhi Capitals. (IPL)

Chris Morris justified his price tag of being the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he guided Rajasthan Royals home against Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League clash on Thursday. 

Morris finished the contest unbeaten on 36 from 18 balls as Royals won the contest by three wickets.  

The @rajasthanroyals camp is elated as they pocket their first win in #IPL2021 after yet another thrilling finish.https://t.co/8aM0TZxgVq #RRvDC #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/J1XA8ggmZs — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 15, 2021

Rajasthan started the 148-run chase on a dreadful note losing three top-order batsman (Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Manan Vohra) inside the powerplay overs. 

However, David Miller's valiant 43-ball 62, which included seven fours and two sixes, kept Royals in the hunt and Morris completed the rest. 

Earlier in the day, a brilliant three-wicket burst from pacer Jaydev Unadkat helped Rajasthan Royals restrict Delhi Capitals to 147/8. Unadkat (3/15 off 4 overs) dismissed Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane to trigger DC's top-order collapse from which they never recovered fully. 

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- @Tipo_Morris — Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 15, 2021

Captain Rishabh Pant's blistering 32-ball 51, studded with nine fours, was not enough as DC could only post a modest total after being put in to bat.

DC made a disastrous start as they were two wickets down for 16 runs in the fourth over with Unadkat dismissing the opening duo of Shaw (2) and Dhawan (9) cheaply.

Shaw was the first to go in the second over, caught at backward point before Dhawan perished while attempting a ramp shot with RR captain and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson taking a stunning diving catch to his right.

Ajinkya Rahane's (8) underwhelming IPL form continued as he offered an easy caught and bowled chance to Unadkat with a slow ball that clocked just 110km per hour.

DC were 36/3 at the end of power-play but the slump continued as Marcus Stonis (0), foxed by a Mustafizur Rahman (2/29) delivery, checked his shot at the last minute to offer a running catch to Jos Buttler.

The run rate started increasing once captain Pant came to the crease but still DC were 57/4 at the halfway mark. Once he had a full measure of the pitch, Pant opened up and hit four boundaries, three of which were consecutive, to take 20 runs from the 11th over bowled by Rahul Tewatia.
Pant, in excellent form this year, reached to his fifty off 30 balls in the 12th over, with a four off Mustafizur but he was run out the next over with bowler Riyan Parag's throw crashing onto the stumps.

Delhi were 88/5 then. After Pant's exit, Tom Curran gave some respectability to the DC innings with a 16-ball 21.