« Back to article | Print this article |
Delhi daredevils won the toss and had no hesitation to bat first on a placid track, which looked to offer some assistance to spinners.
Virender Sehwag and David Warner walked in the middle and took an aggressive approach right from the onset.
Anil Kumble who opened the innings bowled a quite over upfront. But then, in the second over, Sehwag got the scoreboard moving, with a couple of boundaries off Vinay Kumar.
Sehwag got into his elements in Kumble's second over, as he hit the leg-spinner for two boundaries and a huge six.
Kumble then turned to young Abhimanyu Mitun to provide the breakthrough and he was up to it.
Sehwag lifted the young medium pacer for a maximum, but Mithun had the last laugh when he bowled him after a breezy 35 off 22 balls.
Photographs: IPL/Getty Images
Warner, who hit a century in his previous match, continued his big hitting as he smashed Mithun for a boundary. He then flicked Jacques Kallis for another boundary as Daredevils reached 50 in the sixth over.
Daredevils though soon lost captain Gautam Gambhir when he was brilliantly run out by KP Appanna, who sent him back to the pavilion for just one.
Warner the picked up the pace hitting two massive sixes off Appanna. The Australian however couldn't carry on the good work when he was caught at the boundary by Kohli off Kumble for 33.
However couple of quick wickets, pegged Daredevils run flow as Royal Challengers looked to make a comeback into the match.
Spinner Appanna dismissed Dinesh Karthik, who was brilliantly caught by Cameron White in the covers for just six runs.
Kedar Jhadav also perished cheaply when he was stumped by Robin Uthappa off the same bowler, reducing the home team to 124 for five in the 15th over.
Paul Collingwood came up yet again with the goods as he made a quickfire 75 off just 46 balls, which included three boundaries and seven sixes.
The England's middle order batsman took a special liking to Mithun's bowling as he hit for a couple of sixes and boundary as the hosts finished with an impressive 185 for five in 20 overs.
Chasing a competitive 186 for a win, Royals came out with Kallis and White to open the innings.
Kallis started in his usual fashion, smashing Farveez Maharoof for a couple of boundaries in the opening over. In the next over, he hit leg-spinner Amit Misha for a boundary as Royals looked to be off to a good start.
But Mishra had other ideas. He forced White to hit over the top and had him caught by Warner at mid-off for four.
Kevin Pietersen and Kallis ideally would be a dream combination to be at the crease chasing a huge score, however, they struggled to lift the run rate.
Pietersen started positively, hitting Daniel Vettori for a six in his first over to make his intentions clear.
Kallis at the other end kept picking up singles, trying to keep up with the run-rate.
Delhi on the other hand bowled few tight overs, which increased the pressure on the Royals.
Pietersen finally succumbed in order to push the run-rate as was bowled by a brilliant yorker by Pradeep Sangwan.
Kallis continued his good form in the IPL as he cracked his fifth half-century. Kallis, however struggled in this innings as he couldn't get the big hits away.
Both Robin Uthappa and Ross Taylor threatened for a while but couldn't fell in the need to increase the tempo.
Kallis too was caught at long off by Collingwood, in process of clearing the boundary off Sangwan after a steady knock of 54 from 42 balls.
The Delhi bowlers backed their batsman, and came up with a good bowling display. Pradeep Sangwan and Amit Mishra shared three wickets each as Royals finished 147 for nine in 20 overs, 37 runs short of the total.
With this victory, Delhi moved to second in the standings with 12 points from nine games behind Mumbai Indians, who have 14 from the same number of games. Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have now lost four out of nine games, slipped a place to third with ten points in their kitty.