Marcus Stoinis clubbed four sixes in a brisk innings of 39 and then took a couple of key wickets to help Delhi Capitals defeat the Steve Smith-led Rajasthan Royals by 46 runs in the Indian Premier League.
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The third straight win lifted Delhi to the top of the table, while the former Australia captain will be left concerned by Rajasthan suffering a fourth straight defeat. He will certainly welcome Ben Stokes coming out of quarantine this weekend.
Shimron Hetmyer was Delhi's principal star, blasting 45 and then taking two stunning catches in the deep, while Ravi Ashwin, taking 2-22 off his four superb overs, was on a par.
Yet Stoinis also played a big part in taking Delhi to 8-184, making 39 off 30 balls, including three big sixes off off spinner Shreyas Gopal, before top-edging Rahul Tewatia. Jofra Archer bowled superbly for the Royals, taking three wickets.
Rajasthan, in reply, fell to 5-82 after 12.1 overs, with Smith out for 24 hitting to midwicket, and were bowled out for 138 with two balls left. Stoinis played his part with his part-time bowling, dismissing Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal in his two overs.
A disappointed Smith said afterwards: "We're not playing good enough over the full 40 overs. We are doing some good things in patches, but unfortunately not executing well under pressure.
"We gave away 10 to 15 runs too many. Ben Stokes comes out of quarantine tomorrow, we play the day after. He hasn't had any practice. So we will need to have a chat around that."
Australian Associated Press
