The Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur hosted the Indian Premier League 2024’s ninth match between the Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals. When facing the DC bowlers, especially Anrich Nortje, who was playing competitive cricket again after a six-month break, Riyan Parag was at his best. As a result of his assault on Nortje, Parag scored a whopping 25 runs in the final over of the RR innings.
DC coach James Hopes has defended the right-arm pacer after being severely embarrassed by the young player in his comeback match. With his numbers reading 48 for one in the just-finished game, Hopes confirmed that the South African bowler will improve with time.
Due to a back stress fracture, Anrich Nortje has been sidelined since September 2023 and will not be participating in the 2023 World Cup.
“I won’t speak poorly of the bowlers too much. They merely attempted to carry it out. Although we had a solid first half with the ball, in the last five years, things have gotten a little away from us. This is the first time Nortje has been at this level for a long time. Despite a little period of absence from the game, his statistical standing places him among the top death bowlers in the league. Hopes, cited by NDTV Sports, stated, “We have faith that he will continue to improve.
Also read: PBKS pacer Nathan Ellis offers observations on two bouncers per over rule
They virtually bowled at us during their ten overs of death bowling: Hopes
The most obvious thing about DC’s chase was that, except for David Warner, no other top-order hitter rose to the challenge. Their captain, Rishabh Pant, who is making a comeback in the IPL 2024, nearly scored a run on every ball as the needed run rate accumulated. Hopes believed that in addition to the teams’ bowling, their batting had also looked worn down in the latter part of their innings.
“We batted first and controlled the game quite well, but we faltered a little bit in the middle. They executed a brilliant ten overs of death bowling, essentially aimed at us. When the game is over, we have to clean up after ourselves. I won’t be too hard on us after one game because it’s only one, and I don’t even include the first one when we had to bench a bowler to make room for an extra batsman before Ishant Sharma was injured,” he continued.