Delhi Capitals’ left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya said taking the wicket of Rajasthan Royals’ opener Jos Buttler in Wednesday’s match at the DY Patil Stadium was a big thing for him.
Sakariya had been drafted into the playing eleven as fellow left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed had a hamstring injury.
Pushed into batting first, Buttler was kept quiet by Sakariya’s left-arm pace. Eventually, Sakariya got him out when the Englishman hit one coming in straight to mid-on off a thick inner edge.
Sakariya was the standout pacer for Delhi, picking 2/23 alongside Mitchell Marsh (2/25) and Anrich Nortje (2/38) in restricting Rajasthan to 160/6, giving away just 53 runs in the last six overs while picking four wickets.
“It felt really good to contribute to the team’s victory. I enjoyed dismissing Jos Buttler as he has been in terrific form and taking his wicket was a big thing for me. I executed my plans well and I am happy with my overall performance,” said Sakariya in an official release by the franchise on Thursday.
In reply, Delhi chased down 161 with 11 balls to spare, thanks to a 144-run stand between Mitchell Marsh (89 off 62 balls) and David Warner (52 not out off 41 balls). Nortje thinks the much-needed win over Rajasthan will propel Delhi to win their remaining matches in the league stage to seal a playoffs spot.
“We needed a win at this stage of the tournament and hopefully, we can carry forward this momentum into our next two games. Warner and Marsh batted really well. They absorbed the pressure in the beginning and then took that momentum into the latter part of the innings.”
Delhi’s next match is against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday. Sakariya stressed upon light thinking and relaxation as ways to keep themselves calm ahead of the match against the Mayank Agarwal-led side.
“We will try to stay as relaxed as possible as we go into the next game. It’s not good to think too much. We will look to enjoy a few light moments for now and get focused on our upcoming game as we get closer to it.”
Nortje feels that the players will focus on executing their skills well without worrying about the end result as the race to playoffs heats up. “You get used to these kinds of situations and you just focus on what you have to do. We have to think about what we have to execute and just go out and do it without worrying about the outcome.”
(Inputs from IANS)