HALF-centuries from Rishabh Pant and captain Shreyas Iyer helped Delhi Daredevils defeat Rajasthan Royals by four runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method to move off the foot of the Indian Premier League table.

Delhi had only won two of their eight matches prior to the game at the Feroz Shah Kotla, which was shortened after persistent rain caused a delayed start.
Pant (69), Iyer (50) and Prithvi Shaw (47) helped the hosts to post 196-6, as Jaydev Unadkat (3-46) led Rajasthan’s wicket-takers.

Set a reduced target of 151 from 12 overs, the Royals made a strong start through Jos Buttler (67) and D’Arcy Short (44), but ultimately fell short during a tense final over.
Needing 14 runs from the final over, the Royals lost Rahul Tripathi to a run-out before edging closer to the winning tally in the face of Trent Boult’s death bowling.

Krishnappa Gowtham strained in search of a maximum off the penultimate delivery, but his attempt to go over long-on instead offered a chance to Iyer.
Not only did the Daredevils captain put it down, the ball also bounced over the ropes for four, although a subsequent slice over cover for a single from the same batsman allowed Delhi to breathe a sigh of relief.

Pant, the Daredevils young wicketkeeper batsman, was not in a patient mood following the delay caused by the inclement weather.
He clubbed five sixes and found the boundary ropes seven times as he reached 69 from just 29 balls faced, before he was undone by a slower Unadkat delivery and caught by Ben Stokes at long on.

The damage had already been done, though, in a 92-run partnership with Iyer, the highest of the match.
After Glenn Maxwell and Amit Mishra accounted for destructive openers Short and Buttler respectively, Boult pounced to prevent Rajasthan’s other specialists from building on the opening pair’s foundations.

The New Zealand quick’s full, on-stump delivery saw Sanju Samson caught by Colin Munro at cow corner.

And a waist-high full toss had Stokes snaffled by Vijay Shankar at deep mid-wicket, Boult becoming the competition’s leading wicket-taker this season with 13. (Yahoo Sport)