IPL CRICKET 2010 - Delhi Daredevils Vs Kings XI Punjab

IPL CRICKET 2010

Delhi Daredevils Vs Kings XI Punjab

Kings make it tough for DD

Sanaga's Men Win To Put Delhi's Smis Entry On Hold

New Delhi: Delhi Daredevils, who were looking to seal their IPL semifinal berth, were made to bite the dust by a team languishing at the bottom of the league standings.

        Kings XI had the last laugh as they outplayed their opposi9tion, Daredevils by 7 wickets here on Sunday. This was Delhi's second loss on the trot and they have 12 points from 11 matches while Punjab have eight from 12 games.

           The conditions were extremely hot but that didn't keep the fans indoors. they came out in huge numbers and thronged the stadium to support their team. But they had to return disappointed, as they got to see only eight fours in the Delhi innings.

          The only six was struck by Yuvraj singh when his team was slowly inching towards a comprehensive win. Incidentally, this was Kings XI's second successive victory.

        The Ferozeshah Kota pitch wasn't as bad as it appeared, but the hosts made a mess of it. Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and opted to bat on a slow turner, where the ball was occasinally keeping low.

        But the decision backfired as they were skittled out for a cheap score of 111.

        In reply, Kings XI reached the winning target with a clinical approach with eight deliveries to spare. Riding on his recent good form, Mahela Jayawardene once again played an important knock ofr his team.

        He made a patient 38 and was never in a hurry to finish things off. Kumar Sangakkara made 33 while Yuvraj stayed till the end to see Kings XI through. Earlier, Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla claimed three and two wickets respectively for their disciplined spells.

        Despite losing the wicket of struggling Virendra Sehwag in the second over, Delhi still looked in control of the situation for a while when Gambhir came to the crease and played some brethtaking drives till a mix up with his partner David Warner. Gambhir was run-out and the job was again left for Paul Collingwood to complete. But before the English batsman could settle down to do some serious business, Warner ran himself out. Much was expected from Dinesh Karthik, but he too struggled.

           Liberated from expectations, the Kings XI Punjab bowlers took some crucial wickets and didn't allow any of the Delhi batsmen to settle down.