Delhi Daredevils slumped to a second straight loss in the 2016 Indian Premier League, going down by 19 runs against the Rising Pune Supergiants in a rain-affected match in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. Pune, needing 122 to win, were 76/1 after 11 overs when rain brought an end to proceedings. They were subsequently declared winners by 19 runs as per the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Zaheer Khan's Delhi got off to a horror start, losing Quinton de Kock early, and could never get going. Their run-rate hardly touched six through the innings as Pune's Ashok Dinda and Adam Zampa applied the squeeze on Delhi's batsmen, finishing with figures of 3/20 and 3/21 respectively. Some late hitting from Chris Morris (38 off 20 balls) took them to 121/6, but it would always prove to be an underwhelming score.
The Supergiants, in comparison, got off to a flyer and, despite losing Usman Khawaja for 19, were hardly troubled. They were 57/1 in 8.2 overs when the first spell of rain hit the ground. After resumption, they moved to 76/1 in 11 overs, before more showers put an end to proceedings. The par score, according to the Duckworth-Lewis method was 57 and, hence, Pune were declared winners by 19 runs.
The win will come as a measure of relief for beleaguered Pune captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, considering the team has been eliminated from the playoffs race. On the other hand, Delhi Daredevils will have to win both their remaining matches to keep themselves in the hunt.
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