Delhi Daredevils put in another clinical all-round performance to beat Kings XI Punjab by 51 runs at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Saturday. It was their second comprehensive victory in a row, after beating Rising Pune Supergiant by 95 runs on Tuesday.
After choosing to bat first, a decision that surprised many, Delhi put up a solid target of 188, aided by the hard-hitting knocks of Sam Billings at the start and Chris Morris at the end of the innings. In response, the Punjab race never really got going as the Delhi bowling unit put a stopper on their shorts and picked wickets at regular intervals. To put it in captain Zaheer Khan’s words after the win, Delhi Daredevils did the basics right.
Corey Anderson was adjudged the Man of the Match for his quick fire 39 off 22 balls which gave Delhi the momentum at death. The New Zealander also picked up the crucial wicket of David Miller in his three overs.
Here’s a look at decisive moments that defined the game.
Zaheer’s toss gamble
Most captains in the Indian Premier League so far have preferred to chase under lights, but Delhi Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan chose to bat first at Kotla. Maybe he saw something in the surface that slow down the ball alter, maybe dew was as big a factor or maybe the performance against RPS, where they piled 205 runs inspired confidence in his batsman and that faith was repaid in full. Openers Sanju Samson and Sam Billings laid the foundation in the Powerplay with a 53-run partnership and the rest of the batsmen built on it to post an imposing total at Kotla.
For Delhi, Shreyas Iyer was back after an illness and replaced Aditya Tare, while Ishant Sharma and Marcus Stoinis made way for KC Cariappa and Eoin Morgan.
A story of mistimed shots
While Billings and Anderson provided the platform and momentum for Delhi’s total, the middle overs saw most of the batsmen get out to mistimed or misjudged shots that ended up in the hands of the fielders near the boundary. Perhaps it was the slower pitch that made it difficult to gauge the carry or need to accelerate, but four of the six Delhi wickets were catches taken in the deep.
Another Saha stunner
Karun Nair, who walked in at 3, was the only batsman who didn’t make a contribution, falling for a suck off Varun Aaron. But the highlight was a stunner of a catch by Wriddhiman Saha. Aaron, brought back for breakthrough after giving away 13 in his first over, got an edge of Karun’s handle and Saha dived ull throttle to his left to pouch it. Saha’s keeping has steadily improved this last season, he has taken some athletic catches in the Test season ad in the IPL and this one just adds to the list.
Death over assault after slump
The Delhi innings started with a bang but then went through a slump as wickets began to fall.
Iyer’s comeback knock lasted 22 off 17 balls, as he tried and failed to go for the big shot against Mohit and Sharma. Billings, whose 50 came off 36 balls, crafted his innings with a careful balance of belligerence and caution, fell in the 13th over on 55 off 40. Rishabh Pant fell to Aaron, couldn’t control the shot and get the distance on it, giving Morgan a simple catch. Chris Morris went on 16 off 7, once again going for the big shot.
But amidst this, Anderson produced a thrilling cameo along with Pat Cummins, as the last 10 balls of the innings yielded 33 runs with 19 coming off the last over. It would only be fair to say that the last 13 balls took the game away from Kings XI Punjab.
Powerplay pressure on KXIP
Even before the first ball of the chase, the pressure was on the Punjab batsmen, as they looked to script a record IPL chase at Kotla. However, Zaheer bowled a tight line to concede just 2 runs in his first over, and had spinner Shahbaz Nadeem share the new ball with him.
The gamble paid off immediately as Nadeem trapped Manan Vohra LBW leaving them 5-1 in only the second over. The left arm spinner got his second soon after, dismissing in-form Saha, off a brilliant low catch by Zaheer. Morris was introduced into the attack and got the danger man Hashim Amla with a low full toss on 19 to reduce them to 31 for 3 in less than five overs.
Chase couldn’t gather steam
Though Punjab’s chase never really started, midway through their innings it was clear that the match was all but over.
Lead spinner Amit Mishra was introduced later in the attack, and got captain Glenn Maxwell on a duck in the second ball he faced to put Punjab on the ropes at 65 for 5 in the 11th over. Then Anderson got to roll his arm and scalped the important wicket of big-hitter David Miller who managed to score 24 off 28 balls – a strike rate indicative of just how tight the Delhi bowling was.
Punjab ended with 137 off the 20 overs, for the fall of nine wickets, while Deli rose to the third spot in the IPL standings.
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