JOIN USMishra spins Dardevils to crushing win
Delhi Daredevils opened their account in this edition of the Indian Premier League with a thumping eight-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in their first home contest at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Friday.
Daredevils’ bowlers made the most of the turn offered by the pitch. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra’s lethal spell broke the back of the mighty batting line-up of Kings XI who could muster a meager 111/9 in their 20 overs. It, though, was a bit surprising that Mishra, who emerged with figures of 4/11 off three overs, wasn’t bowled his quota of four overs.
Mishra was backed well by captain Zaheer Khan and Chris Morris who impressed with their economical spells.
In reply, Daredevils were unlucky to lose out Shreyas Iyer after he was adjudged caught behind, although there appeared to be no nick. But Quinton de Kock (59 n.o.) and Sanju Samson (33) batted at a blistering pace to set in an early momentum.
De Kock was on 10 when he was dropped by Murali Vijay at deep square leg off Axar Patel. The South African rubbed it in when, a ball later, he whacked Patel over point. He only grew in strength from there on, bringing his half century by muscling a six off Mitchell Johnson. With Samson, he stitched 91 runs for the second wicket. And though Samson was bowled by Patel, Pawan Negi ensured that Delhi safely coasted home with 39 balls to spare.
Daredevils, who brought in Jayant Yadav and JP Duminy in place of Nathan Coulter-Nile and Mayank Agarwal, were also excellent on the field and didn’t allow partnerships to prosper. Their good work effected run outs of opener Murali Vijay and then Wriddhiman Saha later in the innings.
Vijay was on his way back in the second over following an interesting unfolding of events. Manan Vohra’s lofted cover drive was dropped by a backward running Zaheer. But an instant mix-up between the two openers and a pin-point throw by Karun Nair ensured Vijay was short of his crease. Mishra, introduced in the seventh over, then did the rest.
Shaun Marsh, replacing Marcus Stoinis, was lured by the leg-spinners’ tossed up delivery and danced down the track only to be beaten by flight and spin and De Kock swiftly wiped off the bails.
Mishra, on his return, further piled misery on Kings XI by removing their two best batsmen- captain David Miller and Glenn Maxwell within a space of four deliveries. Miller bent down to sweep to counter Mishra but was hit on the front pad to be adjudged lbw. Maxwell looking to loft him was also beaten in air and couldn’t pack enough power to give a simple catch at long-off.
Vohra was the only Punjab batsman to have dug in his heels and kept the scoreboard ticking. But Mishra’s wrong ‘un caught him off guard. He prepared to cut the ball that turned sharply to hit his leg –stump, reducing Punjab to 59/5 in 11 overs. With no one to don the anchor’s role, Punjab’s innings dipped progressively. It required few lusty blows from Mohit Sharma and Pardeep Sahu, the two hitting the only two sixes of the Punjab innings, to push the score beyond the 100-run mark. At the end, it proved too small a target to defend against a resurgent Daredevils.
Scoreboard
KINGS XI PUNJAB: Murali Vijay (run out) 1 (5b), Manan Vohra b Mishra 32 (24b, 5x4), Shaun Marsh st De Kock b Mishra 13 (16b, 2x4), David Miller lbw Mishra 9 (9b, 1x4), Glenn Maxwell c Brathwaite b Mishra 0 (3b), Axar Patel c Negi b Yadav 11 (22b, 1x4), Wriddhiman Saha (run out) 3 (7b), Mitchell Johnson b Morris 4 (12b), Mohit Sharma c Morris b Khan 15 (8b, 1x4, 1x6), Pradeep Sahu (not out) 18 (12b, 1x4, 1x6), Sandeep Sharma (not out) 1 (2b). Extras (LB-1, W-3) 4. Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 111.
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Vijay), 2-37 (Marsh), 3-52 (Miller), 4-52 (Maxwell), 5-59 (Vohra), 6-65 (Saha), 7-73 (Patel), 8-90 (Sharma), 9-99 (Johnson).
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 4-1-14-1, Pawan Negi 1-0-10-0, Chris Morris 4-0-19-1, Carlos Brathwaite 4-0-33-0, Amit Mishra 3-0-11-4, Jayant Yadav 4-0-23-1.
DELHI DAREDEVILS: Quinton de Kock (not out) 59 (42b, 9x4, 1x6), Shreyas Iyer c Saha b Sandeep 3 (5b), Sanju Samson b Patel 33 (32b, 3x4, 1x6), Pawan Negi (not out) 8 (2b, 1x6). Extras (B-4, LB-2, W-4) 10. Total (for 2 wkts, 13.3 overs) 113.
Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Iyer), 2-100 (Samson).
Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 2-1-6-1, Mitchell Johnson 3-0-28-0, Mohit Sharma 2-0-10-0, Axar Patel 3-0-25-1, Pradeep Sahu 2.3-0-27-0, Glenn Maxwell 1-0-11-1.