Riley Russo scored the highest 82 runs for Delhi.Image Credit source: BCCI
Dharamshala: Delhi Capitals may have been eliminated before reaching the playoffs of IPL 2023, the team may be the last in the points table, but before ending their journey, this team is showing some courage. This was visible against the Punjab Kings in Dharamshala, where Prithvi Shaw first scored a half-century leaving behind the poor form. The gathering, however, was robbed by left-handed batsman Riley Russo, whose wait of 9 years was finally over.
Delhi Capitals in Dharamshala may have been eliminated even before reaching the playoffs of IPL 2023, the team may be the last in the points table, but before ending their journey, this team is showing some courage. This was visible against the Punjab Kings in Dharamshala, where Prithvi Shaw (54) first scored a half-century leaving behind the poor form. The gathering, however, was robbed by left-handed batsman Riley Russo, whose wait of 9 years was finally over.
Fifty in 25 balls, then came the storm
Delhi, which is out of the playoff race in the tournament, has nothing to lose in its remaining matches and in such a situation, this team played in the same manner. The result was a strong performance by the batsmen. After a strong start by captain David Warner and Prithvi Shaw, left-handed batsman Riley Russo took the lead, whose batting battered Punjab.
𝑭𝑭𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕
Rossouw bringing that Protea power in #PBKSvDC #IPLonJioCinema #EveryGameMatters #IPL2023 , @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/fTVTPSAVkw
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 17, 2023
Russo, who came to bat in the 11th over, started with two fours and the series started from here and stopped in the very last over. This South African batsman scored a half-century in just 25 balls. He continued the attack even after this and hit fours and sixes till the last over to take the team to a big score of 213 runs.
Rousseau scored 82 runs in just 37 balls and returned unbeaten. In his innings, Russo scored 6 fours and 6 sixes. His strike rate was 221.
Out of the park!
Relive @Rileerr‘s mighty MAXIMUM 👇
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/lZunU0ICEw#TATAIPL , #PBKSvDC , @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/WranEQmEeE
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 17, 2023
Half century after waiting for 9 years
This fifty was very special for Rousseau. This is because after a full 9 years of debut in IPL, he scored his first half-century. Russo made his IPL debut in 2014 but could only score 39 runs in 3 matches then. After this, he scored 14 runs in 2 matches in 2015. After that, till 2022, he did not get a chance in any team in IPL.
One of the major reasons for this was breaking his ties with South African cricket and playing only county cricket after signing the Kolpak deal in England. Then two years ago, he returned to the South African team and after that Delhi bought him for IPL 2023. Rousseau scored his half-century in the 8th match of this season. That is, for the first time in 13 matches in 9 years, a half-century was scored.