DD Slay Punjab with all-round show
The Delhi Daredevils posted their second win of VIVO IPL 2017 after they defended the 188 they posted after opting to bat first on a dry-looking surface at the Feroz Shah Kotla. In the second half of the match, Kings XI Punjab lost their top three in the first six overs and never really posed a threat; the visitors eventually finished at 137-9 – 51 short of what DD had got earlier in the evening.
Earlier in the evening, the Delhi Daredevils got off to a brisk start with Sanju Samson and Sam Billings adding 49 runs in the first six overs. The pair stretched their association to 53, before young Sanju Samson holed out to long-off.
The hosts lost Karun Nair four balls later, but were put back on track immediately by a 41-run stand between Sam Billings and the returning Shreyas Iyer. That stand was broken when the latter holed out to long-on; DD 96-3 in 11.5 Overs. Sam Billings perished six balls later,soon after he brought up his second VIVO IPL 2017 half-century; the Englishman had scored 55 from 40 balls, his innings studded with nine boundaries most of which came through the arc between mid-on and midwicket.
DD lost the wickets of the dangerous Rishabh Pant (15 from 9 balls) and Chris Morris (16 from 8 balls) and lost a bit of gas heading into the business end of the innings. However, Corey Anderson, who was a mere spectator in the partnership with Morris the other night, put his hands up on this occasion; the Kiwi all-rounder hit Axar Patel for successive sixes in the nineteenth over, and hit Sandeep Sharma for a four and a six off the last two deliveries of the innings. Corey Anderson made 39 from 22 balls, studded with three boundaries and as many sixes, while Pat Cummins struck two boundaries in his six-ball cameo. DD added 78 runs in the final six overs which took them to 188-6. Varun Aaron (2-45) was the most successful bowler for KXIP, while Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Axar Patel and KC Cariappa all chipped with a wicket each.
KXIP's chase never took off; the visitors lost three wickets in the powerplay overs and were playing catch up all the time. Their job became that much more difficult with every passing delivery – as the required run rate climbed rapidly, and with every batsman walking back to the dressing room the pressure mounted. It didn’t help KXIP that the three established internationals in the middle order – Eoin Morgan (22), David Miller (24) and Glenn Maxwell (0) – didn’t contribute too much in the run-chase. Axar Patel’s 44 – batting at number seven – was the top-score of the innings, while the 45-run stand for the seventh wicket was the highest partnership; those two facts establish that KXIP never really had a sniff in the chase. KXIP batted out their twenty overs and finished at 137-9.
The home team was brilliant in the field. Zaheer Khan marshalled his resources splendidly; there were very few bad deliveries on offer and the fielders supported the bowlers by catching everything that came their way. The left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem (2-13) bowled two brilliant overs with the new ball, while Chris Morris returned the most successful bowler picking up three wickets. Pat Cummins, Amit Mishra (who dismissed Maxwell) and Corey Anderson together accounted for four wickets.
Brief Scores
Delhi Daredevils : 188-6 (Sam Billings 55, Corey Anderson 39*, Varun Aaron 2-45) beat Kings XI Punjab : 137-9 (Axar Patel 44, Chris Morris 3-23) by 51 runs
Man of the Match: Corey Anderson
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