Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates with teammates after taking a wicket.

Ravichandran Ashwin (2-22) bowled a superb spell to steer Delhi Capitals to a 46-run victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Friday.

Ashwin was well supported by South African pace duo Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje as Delhi skittled out Rajasthan for 138 in 19.4 overs after posting a competitive total of 184/8.

Rabada and Nortje shared four wickets between them, conceding a combined total of 60 runs in 7.4 overs. Rabada returned with a figure of 3-35 while Nortje claimed one wicket, giving away 25 runs in his 4 overs. Chasing a competitive target, Rajasthan were never in contention. They got off to a faltering start as Jos Buttler was caught by Dhawan off Ashwin, who triggered the skid, with just 15 runs on the board.

Captain Smith and Yashasvi Jaiswal tried to put the innings together with a 41-run partnership for the second wicket.

They played at a snail’s pace. The duo consumed too many deliveries, which resulted in the asking rate going beyond the reach of a very ordinary batting line-up.

Nortje got rid of Smith to make it 56-2. The dismissal of Smith opened the floodgates for Delhi’s bowlers. They pounced on the Rajasthan batsmen like a lurking cat let loose among the pigeons and ripped through the fragile middle order.

Shikhar Dhawan gestures during the match.

Rajasthan lost five wickets for 28 runs within a space of 26 deliveries. Marcus Stoinis had Sanju Samson caught by Hetmyer to reduce them to 72-3.

After that there was no looking back for Delhi bowlers as Rajasthan kept losing the wickets at regular intervals to be left in tatters, having lost seven wickets for 100 runs in 15 overs, which meant they still needed 85 runs in five overs with just three wickets. Rajasthan were still hopeful with Rahul Tewatia, who had become an overnight star after hitting Kings XI Punjab’s pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, out there in the middle. But they had left too much to be done by the left-handers, who put up a brave fight.

Rajasthan Royals players celebrate after taking a wicket in Sharjah.

Ashwin got rid of Mahipal Lomror for his second scalp. Pace spearhead Rabada too swung into action and had Jofra Archer caught by Shreyas Iyer after Axar Patel dismissed Andrew Tye.

Rabada rattled the stumps of Tewatia, who waged a lone battle with a fighting 38 with the help of three fours and two sixes. Rajasthan could manage to muster only 138 in 19.4 overs.

Earlier, Delhi batsmen put up a combined effort to post a fighting total of 184/8. Not a single fifty was scored but all the batsmen chipped in with useful contributions as the score swelled to 184/8.

SCOREBOARD:

Rajasthan Royals

138

Run Rate: 7.01

Overs: 19.4/20

Delhi Capitals

184/8

Run Rate: 9.20

Overs: 20/20

Squads:

Rajasthan Roayls:

Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson (w-k), Andrew Tye, KartikTyagi, Steven Smith (captain), Ankit Rajpoot, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, Akash Singh, David Miller, MananVohra, Shashank Singh, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Robin Uthappa, Aniruddha Joshi, Jofra Archer.

Delhi Capitals:

Shreyas Iyer (captain), Kagiso Rabada, Marcus Stoinis, Sandeep Lamichhane, Ishant Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Alex Carey, Mohit Sharma, Prithvi Shaw, Lalit Yadav, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel, Tushar Deshpande, Rishabh Pant, Harshal Patel, Keemo Paul, Anrich Nortje, Daniel Sams.