IPL 10, Match 52, Who Said What - Delhi Daredevils vs Rising Pune Supergiant

It was an important game for the Rising Pune Supergiant, it could’ve sealed them a spot in the playoffs with a match to be comfortably played. Delhi the inconsistent Daredevils put up a good batting show powered by Karun Nair who finally managed a decent knock after all the backing right through the season and with his fifty took the team to 168/8 in 20 overs.

Zaheer Khan at his prime was a magician! He simply bowled deliveries that the batsmen had no answer to and at 38, he showed that he might be old but is not done yet, he delivered a perfect inswinger that made its way through Ajinkya Rahane’s defence and uprooted the middle stump. That sight is a dream for any fast bowler and Zaheer relieved a glorious moment. Rahane bagged a golden duck

Rahul Tripathi once again fell early for just 7 Pune batsmen were off to starts- Steve Smith got 38, Ben Stokes scored 33 while Manoj Tiwary was there until the very end scoring a half century and fighting all the way through the last over but the task was too tall as he needed 25 runs off 6 balls against Pat Cummins.

MS Dhoni was shockingly run out. Yes, the former Indian captain was run out and that is certainly not a common occurrence. In hindsight, the game was pretty much set in favour of RPS until that point and Mohammad Shami after running Dhoni out got the wicket of Daniel Christian in his next over to derail Pune off the chase.

Delhi have now won 6 matches, they have 12 points on the board and with a game to play against Royal Challengers Bangalore can make it 14, though that doesn’t qualify them for the playoffs but will give Rahul Dravid’s team a lot of confidence for the next season.

Winning captain speaks

Zaheer Khan said: Winning always makes you feel good. Even though it’s late in the tournament, it’s important for us to win games. This was a different kind of wicket. It was slowing down a bit. We were always aiming 170, 180. We always knew spinners will be in play right through. All in all a good performance.

The games we have lost, we were always in those games. There are other things to look at and plan for the next season. The length which I hit was perfect and there was a bit of shape (getting Rahane out). Rahane committed to the shot and I got the wicket.

Though they were brilliant on the field the Supergiant skipper felt they could’ve done better and also pointed out at the fall of wickets on the wrong time as the reason for their defeat.

Steve Smith said: We let a few runs in the field. I thought 160 was par. Losing a few wickets probably cost us. Just taking one game at a time at the moment. There’s a game tomorrow, if the result goes our way we are through, or else we will have to win our last game. Every game is a final for us now. We have played some pretty good cricket. but we cannot win every game. But there were a few areas, we will have a look at that tomorrow.

Finally, he came good and scored 64 off 45 balls with nine boundaries, Nair anchored the DD innings and ensured they didn’t crumble to anything under par.

The Man of the Match

Karun Nair said: After we lost the first two wickets, I just had to play the 20 overs. I played normal cricketing shots. The wicket was stopping a bit when they hit it hard, but otherwise was a good wicket. In most games we have been able to contribute, the four of us (youngsters). Can’t be thinking about that, thinking about finishing the tournament well now.