Finally, Delhi Daredevils did win. They won after 11 consecutive losses, a record in IPL. It was their first win on Indian soil after 22 losses as they had won their last two matches of IPL in UAE. Their last win in India was vs KKR at Raipur on May 1st, 2013. Sensible captaincy by Duminy while bowling, attacking batting by opener Mayank Agarwal and the most expensive player of IPL, Yuvraj Singh helped them defeat Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets at Pune with 1 ball remaining.
Indian Premier League 2015: Schedule and Results
Kings Score 165/7 as Big Trio Fails
Electing to bat first, Kings XI could score only 165/7 despite a stable start by openers. Murali Vijay (18-ball 19 runs) and Sehwag (41-ball 47 runs with 2 6s and 4 4s) did not actually set the stadium on fire but they did set up a platform for the big trio of David Miller, Maxwell and Bailey to take the score near 200 runs. But sensible bowling changes by Captain Duminy, applying himself to bowl with the best duo of IPL so far Amit Mishra and Purple Cap holder Imran Tahir worked better as all three failed to stay longer.
Vijay was the first one to go as a good catch by Duminy on the bowling of Mathews got DD first wicket in 5th over as score reached 33 runs. Wriddhiman Saha (38-ball 39 runs with 3 6s) tried to step up run rate for Kings XI. He added 71 runs in next 7.5 overs as Kings lose 2nd wicket in 14th over. Sehwag played cautiously and fell as third wicket in 15th over. The score read 115/3 in 15 overs.
From there on David Miller (7-ball 5), Maxwell (5-ball 15 with 2 6s), Bailey (11-ball 19 with a six and a four) and Akshar Patel (10-ball 13 witha six) could add exactly 50 runs only as the trio of spin prevailed over the trio of devastating batsmen.
For Delhi Daredevils, Coulter-Nile (0/14 in 3) was the most impressive bowler. Imran Tahir gave 34 runs in first two but bowled the 18th and 20th over giving only 9 runs. He had 43/3 in the end. Amit Mishra (1/34) was also impressive towards the end. Duminy grabbed 2/16 in 2 overs taking out dangerous Sehwag and Miller. Joseh, who replaced Unadkat today, had 0/24 in 3. Mathews had 1/23 in 3. Yuvraj bowled a over giving 9 runs.
3rd Century Partnership of IPL, DD Win With a Ball to Spare
Mayank Agarwal started the chase with confidence attacking Sandeep Sharma and Anureet Singh. But, Shreyas Iyer (6 runs) fell down in 3rd over. Captain Duminy played with confidence hitting 19-ball 21 runs but was run out as Axar Patel applied common sense. Score read 53/2 in 7.2 overs as Yuvraj joined Mayank. Johnson vs Yuvraj rivalry started. Yuvraj was hit on hand once, had to jump to avoid ball hitting his face. But ultimately Johnson was hit all over by both as he went wicketless giving runs at the rate of 10.75 per over.
Both took the match away adding 106 runs for third wicket. Needing just 7 runs from 2 overs, DD made the match interesting looking for big shots. Anureet Singh, 2nd highest wicket taker of the IPL 2015 sent back Yuvraj and Mayank on consecutive balls. Mayank, Player of the Match, scored cracking 48-ball 68 runs with 2 6s and 7 4s, while Yuvraj scored 39-ball 55 runs with 3 6s and 5 4s.
In the last over DD needed 3 runs as Axar Patel bowled to Angelo and Kedar, both on 0. Kedar wanted to score the winning single with a bounday and got out. Finally, after some drama DD could win although with just 1 ball remaining.
For Kings XI, the bowlers appeared reckless. Johnson was hit all around and was the most expensive. But even Sandeep, Anureet and Rishi were guilty of bowling too many wides and no balls. Sandeep had 1/30 in 4, Anureet had 2/33 in 4, Dhawan had 0/23 in 3, Maxwell gave 10 in 1 over while Axar was the most economical with 1/28 in 3.5.
Kings XI need to worry about their weak bowling, while Delhi has all the reasons to feel happy as they registered their first win over Kings XI after 4 defeats. With 1 win they have jumped to 4th position in Points Tally.
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