Twitter Reactions: Rahane, Samson guide Royals to 153 before rain stops play in Jaipur

The stage was all set for the first home game for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 edition of the IPL. They hosted the Delhi Daredevils at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The short boundaries and a flat track promised a cracker of a contest on the cards between the two sides who were looking for a win. There were no favorites as the game commenced and both sides had an equal opportunity to register their first points on the board.

Now, at the half way stage, nothing seems to have changed. The Rajasthan Royals have posted a decent 153 on the board before the rain intervention. The rains have persisted have for long enough for the overs to be lost in the game. The effect of rain on the field and the condition remains to be seen. For now, one would believe that the game is evenly poised in the favor of both sides.

Earlier in the game, the Delhi Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir had won the toss and had opted to field first. Clearly, Gambhir went ahead with the trend of the season thus far – win the toss and opt to chase. The Rajasthan Royals opener, D Arcy Short’s horrendous run continued from the first game. He was run out in the second over of the game. This was his second run out in IPL in as many number of appearances.

In walked Ben Stokes at number three to join Ajinkya Rahane at the crease. Stokes looked good for his 12-ball 16 but was undone by an absolute scorcher from Trent Boult. It was the classical swing that found an edge off his bat and Rishabh Pant pocketed a good catch. Sanju Samson and Rahane then stitched a handy 62 run stand for the third wicket before Shahbaz Nadeem dismissed Samsom on 37 (22).

Rahane also played well for his timely 45 off 40 deliveries before Nadeem bagged his second wicket of the evening. Rahul Tripathi and Jos Buttler then found themselves in a position to accelerate and give some impetus to the innings. The duo targeted the 17th over bowled by Chris Morris and milked 18 runs. In the very next over Jos Buttler was cleaned by Mohammed Shami on 29 (18). K Gowtham walked in to bat and the rain arrived at the venue a ball later.

The Royals played 17.5 overs to post 153/5 on the board. Tripathi remained unbeaten on 15 off 11 deliveries. For the Daredevils, Nadeem was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/34 to his name.

Here is how the fans reacted to the Rajasthan Royals innings:

https://twitter.com/imRKasliwal/status/984112105073803266

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