Zaheer (2/17), Coulter-Nile (4/20) star in Delhi’s 9-wkt win
After coming back from an injury lay off, Zaheer Khan (right) bowled a brilliant spell to dismiss the Kings XI openers. (Photo: Biplab Banerjee)
New Delhi: An inspired bowling show led Delhi Daredevils to a nine-wicket win over Kings Punjab XI in a one-sided match of the Indian Premier League Season 8 here. In what was a complete contrast to their earlier performances, Delhi fired on all fronts on the day. The bowling was sharp and precise, skipper J.P. Duminy led from the front and openers Shreyas Iyer and Mayank Agarwal treated the home crowd to some lusty batting, as Delhi rounded off a comprehensive victory.
After the bowlers had restricted Punjab to 118/8, Delhi eased to the target with 37 deliveries to spare. The win took them to the top half of the table, and they are now fourth with eight points from as many games. The target of 119 was never going to be difficult, and Iyer (54, 40 balls, 4x3, 3x6) and Agarwal (52 not out, 40 balls, 6x4, 1x6) went about their job in a fluent manner. Iyer displayed some classical strokes, picking up two sixes and a boundary off Shardul Thakur (1/38) as Delhi surged to 21/0 in two overs.
Thereafter, it was pure entertainment with the duo punishing each of the Punjab bowlers with runs coming from every corner of the park. Their 106-run partnership (75 balls) was the team’s first-ever century plus stand for an opening wicket this season.
The story of the day though belonged to pacers Zaheer Khan (2/17) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (4/20). Zaheer played his first IPL game this season and even though he did not look at his fittest best, the 36-year old breathed life into the attack with an accurate line and length.
The spectators had not even settled down when the pacer had packed off Punjab openers Virender Sehwag and Manan Vohra. Often criticised for not bowling enough, Duminy brought himself on in the second over and had Shaun Marsh plumb off the first ball itself. At 10/3, Punjab were in serious trouble and only sank further from there.
If Zaheer had provided the early impetus, Coulter-Nile came up with the perfect finish as the Kings XI batsmen struggled against the disciplined bowling.
Wriddhiman Saha, George Bailey and Thisara Perera followed even before the team had reached the 50-run mark. And Delhi’s top wicket-taker this season Imran Tahir hadn’t even come on to bowl till then!
A late resurrection came from David Miller (42) and Axar Patel (22) who raised 57 (50 balls) for the seventh wicket, but it was too late to negate the early damage.
SCOREBOARD
Kings XI Punjab: V. Sehwag c Mathews b Zaheer 1, M. Vohra c Jadhav b Zaheer 1, S. Marsh lbw b Duminy 5, W. Saha c Jadhav b Coulter-Nile 3, D. Miller c Tiwary b Coulter-Nile 42, G. Bailey lbw b Mishra 18, T. Perera c Tiwary b Coulter-Nile 3, A. Patel c Agarwal b Coulter-Nile 22, S. Thakur (not out) 7, Anureet Singh (not out) 8. Extras (lb-1, w-7) 8. Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs) 118.
FoW: 1-1, 2-6, 3-10, 4-10, 5-37, 6-45, 7-102, 8-104.
Bowling: Zaheer 4-0-17-2, Duminy 4-0-15-1, Coulter-Nile 4-0-20-4, Mishra 2-0-10-1, Mathews 3-0-19-0, Tahir 3-0-36-0.
Delhi Daredevils: M. Agarwal (not out) 52, S. Iyer c Patel b Thakur 54, S. Tiwary (not out) 5. Extras (lb-2, w-5, nb-1) 8. Total (for one wicket in 13.5 overs) 119.
FoW: 1-106.
Bowling: Sandeep 3-0-10-0, Thakur 3-0-38-1, Anureet 3-0-24-0, Perera 2-0-22-0, Patel 2.5-0-23-0.
( Source : dc )
Next Story
