Delhi Daredevils 152 for 6 (Sehwag 63, Pankaj 2-25) beat Rajasthan Royals 151 for 3 (Rahane 84*, Morkel 1-26) by one run
Delhi Daredevils battled hard to make a great comeback and claim a superb one-run win over a determined Rajasthan Royals at the jampacked Ferozshah Kotla in the IPL-5 here last evening.
Rajasthan Royals’ bowlers and
fielders restricted Delhi Daredevils to 152 for six in 20 overs and then
skipper Rahul Dravid and his young protégé Ajinkya Rahane shared a 99-run
opening stand to help the visiting side get close to victory before some
moments of magic turned the game for Delhi Daredevils.
The first moment of magic – in
the form of a super running catch by Ajit Agarkar – infused hope into Delhi Daredevils’
attempt to keep Rajasthan Royals in check. Agarkar ran back to his right at
long-on and leapt to pluck a brilliant catch when Dravid drove Irfan Pathan
powerfully after making 40 (38 balls, five fours).
The catch ended the skipper’s
determined opening stand with Rahane. Dravid took on the Delhi Daredevils
attack initially, outscoring his younger partner, but Rahane found his rhythm
and soon regained the Orange Cap from Delhi Daredevils skipper Virendra Sehwag who had helped his team overcome early
setbacks by scoring his fourth successive half-century.
The second moment of magic for
the Delhi Daredevils came when Morne Morkel bowled a great penultimate over and
trapped Brad Hodge leg before. Umesh Yadav bowled the final over with vim and
vigour, with the visiting side needing 12 to win. With two needed off the final
ball, Owais Shah was run out by wicket-keeper Naman Ojha when Rahane (84 not
out, 63 balls, nine fours, one six) and he tried to steal a bye.
Earlier, Sehwag, whose three
previous knocks were worth 57, 87 not out and 73 runs, made 63 (39 balls, eight
fours, two sixes) before he was caught at sweeper cover off left-arm spinner
Brad Hogg. His first six – over extra cover off Kevin Cooper – took his tally
of sixes to 100 from 91 T20 matches. Importantly, he added 76 runs for the
third wicket with Ross Taylor.
Taylor (25, 35 balls), who was
content to rotate the strike when Sehwag was the crease, was bowled leg-stump
by the gangling fast medium bowler Pankaj Singh but he had played his part in
rebuilding the innings after walking in at 19 for two. The Delhi Daredevils’
late surge was handled by Yogesh Nagar (27, 20 balls, two fours, two sixes).
After choosing to bat first, the
home team lost Mahela Jayawardene (6) and Kevin Pietersen (5) in the second and
third overs respectively. Jayawardene was caught at backward square-leg off
Pankaj Singh while Pietersen, playing his last game at the Kotla this IPL
season, was caught at slip off left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan.Even though he
did not claim a wicket, Kevin Cooper was the pick of the Rajasthan Royals
bowlers, conceding just 19 runs in his four overs. Pankaj Singh had returns of
two for 25 in his four overs. Hogg and Chavan had identical figures of one for
31 each in their four overs. Rajasthan Royals would be pleased with its effort
on the field.
Sehwag was named Man Of The Match for his well made 63 runs in just 39 balls which help in putting a descent total on the board.
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