Warner's fifty leads Daredevils to win

In-form David Warner played yet another blistering knock of 66 as Delhi Daredevils comfortably defeated defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in an Indian Premier League match, here on Wednesday.

Chasing a modest target of 137, Warner and young Unmukt Chand (37, 4x4) added 95 runs for the third-wicket partnership as the ‘home’ team won the game with 13 balls to spare. This was also a sweet revenge for Daredevils, who had lost in the tournament opener against the same side.

The win was Daredevils’ third in the competition and with six points, they managed to stay afloat in the competition. KKR slumped to their seventh defeat in 10 matches due to another shoddy batting and fielding performance. Although Delhi remain on eighth position but back-to-back wins will definitely give them a lot of confidence for their coming matches.

It was Warner again, who is doing what exactly Kevin Pietersen did last season as he revels in the role of a finisher. His unbeaten 42-ball innings had five fours and three sixes and he always looked in control despite the loss of the two senior openers.

Virender Sehwag (17) got a ‘life’ when Gambhir dropped a dolly at short cover with the batsman on 11. But the veteran opener failed to cash in as he guided a delivery from Jacques Kallis to Yusuf Pathan at first slip who caught it on second attempt. Mahela Jayawardene (5) was also dismissed in an identical fashion as he gave a catch to Jacques Kallis at first slip off Lakshmipathy Balaji’s bowling.

Warner started with a cover drive off Balaji and then hooked a bouncer from Kallis for a six. Rajat Bhatia was unlucky as Warner got two reprieves off his bowling. First it was Manvinder Bisla, who failed to effect a stumping and then Kallis missed a skier which went for six.

Unmukt finally did some justice to his talent as he played some deft shots including a glance and an upper-cut off Kallis.

Earlier, Daredevils produced a commendable bowling performance and were complemented by brilliant fielding which enabled them to restrict KKR to 136 for seven. Incidentally, KKR’s total got some sort of respectability due to Delhi’s domestic veterans Rajat Bhatia (26 n.o.) and Sumit Narwal (23, 15 balls, 4x4).

The duo added 30 runs in only three overs as KKR managed to cross 130-run mark despite being five down for 50 even before the halfway mark. Brett Lee (16 n.o.) also used the long handle to good effect as Ashish Nehra (1/37) gave away 16 runs in the final over of the innings.