IPL 9 Match 7, Review: Delhi Daredevils topple Punjab to earn their first points

Delhi Daredevils registered their first win of the season after they beat Kings XI Punjab quite convincingly by 8 wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. After losing their first game pretty badly, Daredevils finally showed some muscle and looked like a completely different side.

Kings XI Punjab were put into bat by home team skipper Zaheer Kahn who won the toss and chose to bowl first on a slightly slow looking surface. Zaheer’s decision turned out to be very fruitful as the Delhi bowlers led by the experienced head of leg-spinner Amit Sharma (4/11) completely rattled the Punjab batting line-up to fold them up for just 111/9 in 20 overs.

The start wasn’t great for Punjab as Murali Vijay lost his wicket in the 2nd over for the match, getting run out by the combined effort of Karun Nair and Quinton de Kock. Manan Vohra and Shaun Marsh then batted conservatively and tried to stabilise inning but the pair couldn’t thrive as Amit Mishra then began to spread his spin web on the opposition.

Mishra, playing his 100th game tonight, snapped up the wicket of Marsh off the first ball of his spell. Marsh’s attempt to charge down the pitch against a loopy ball resulted in his fall as he missed the ball completely and was stumped behind.

The young Vohra and skipper David Miller then handled the situation in the middle for few overs. Vohra seemed to be slowly getting into the rhythm and had begun to score at brisk pace. However, Mishra again created an impact after he gave a double blow to the Punjab outfit, picking up the wickets of skipper Miller and Australian Glenn Maxwell in the 9th over.

Mishra’s did not stop as he came back in his following over and made the dangerous looking Vohra go back to the pavilion. The lower middle order could not show any resistance as they further continued to crumble. Mitchell Johnson (15 from 8 balls) and Mohit Sharma (18 from 12 balls) added invaluable run at the death to take the team total to 111/9 in 20 overs.

Chasing a paltry target, DD did not have a great start after their opener Shreyas Iyer lost his wicket very cheaply. The obviously made the home fans nervous as the thought of the batting collapse quickly came to their mind. It was a legitimate fear considering DD’s past. The Punjab bowlers managed to maintain the pressure of the early wicket for quite some time as Quinton de Kock and Sanju Samson looked to control the situation.

However, both the young guns soon began to middle the ball and stepped up the tempo of the chase. Both Quinton de Kock and Samson began to flourish with their attacking range of shots and soon the match turned in favor of the Daredevils. The duo put on a 91 run stand in a matter of 9.3 overs to ensure that there is no unexpected twist and turns in the chase.

Quinton was the aggressor in among the pair and reached his half-century in just 38 ball with a  six off Mitchell Johnson at the long leg boundary. The duo was dominant and could have finished the job single-handedly but, unfortunately, Samson (33 from 32 balls) was undone by left-arm spinner Axar Patel in the 13th over.

But, the handful of 10 runs required to win was knocked off effortless by Quinton de Kock and Pawan Negi in the next over. After Quinton began with a four and rotated the strike to Negi who smashed a six to seal a comfortable 8 wicket win.

Brief Scores:

Kings XI Punjab: 111/9 in 20 overs (Manan Vohra 32; Amit Mishra 4/11)

Delhi Daredevils: 113/2 in 13.3 overs (Quinton de Kock 59; Sandeep Sharma 1/6)

Man of the Match: Amit Mishra