A track that changes character dramatically between the first and the second set of 20 overs proved the perfect ally for Gautam Gambhir’s men as the Delhi Daredevils outclassed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 37 runs and returned to the second spot in the IPL points table. The Daredevils have 12 points to the Challengers’ 10, both after nine games.

 The least glamorous of the Daredevils’ bruising top-order, Paul Collingwood, was the one that did the most damage against a revamped Challengers outfit that found the arduous task of chasing down the home team’s 184 for five a mountain too steep.
Cameos from Virender Sehwag and David Warner needed to be built upon, and Collingwood (75 n.o., 46b, 3x4, 7x6) took it upon himself to provide both the substance and the flourish with an innings of tremendous authority. The Challengers’ largely Indian bowling wheel – Dale Steyn warmed the benches – came under severe pressure and didn’t acquit itself with any great credit apart from left-arm spinner KP Appanna, leaving the batsmen with way too much to do.

 Jacques Kallis began brightly, but the Challengers were shackled by a combination of disciplined bowling, the increasing slowness of the surface and a strange lack of urgency until the game was all but won and lost. Eventually, Anil Kumble’s men limped along to 147 for nine, comprehensively outplayed and well beaten.

 Gambhir’s delight at winning the toss must have grown substantially in the first quarter of an hour when Sehwag launched a blistering attack against Kumble, assuming new-ball duties. A Mithun, playing his first game of the season, struck with his second delivery to get rid of Sehwag and when Appanna produced a smart direct hit from short point to run out Gambhir, the Challengers wended their way back in. 

Appanna was smashed for 14 in his first over by Warner, but with Kumble returning to dismiss the dangerman, the Challengers were again in business when Collingwood took the game away from them. The England T20 skipper targeted the area in front of square on the on-side with sensational results, six of his seven sixes coming in that arc as the Daredevils amassed 59 in the last five overs.

 Kallis was on song initially but Cameron White, opening in the absence of Manish Pandey, was tied up in knots and dismissed by Amit Mishra. That brought Kevin Pietersen in and should have heralded the best batting phase for the visitors; instead, that was the period when the match decisively tilted the Daredevils way.

Overs six through 10 yielded a measly 20 runs as Pradeep Sangwan and Rajat Bhatia kept a tight leash. There was a certain lack of intent that was surprising given the long batting line-up the Challengers possess. Robin Uthappa fell in the desperate need to do too much in too little time, and while Ross Taylor did threaten briefly with three sixes in one Mishra over, a required rate of more than 12 an over throughout the entire second half of their innings was well beyond the reach of Kumble’s band.

 To add injury to insult, Virat Kohli was pelted with a missile by, ironically, his own home crowd after catching Warner off Kumble’s bowling at long-off and showing the ball to the crowd, forcing play to be held up for a while.

Score Board

DELHI DAREDEVILS: David Warner c Kohli b Kumble 33 (22b, 3x4, 2x6), Virender Sehwag b Mithun 35 (22b, 5x4, 2x6), Gautam Gambhir (run out) 1 (1b), Paul Collingwood (not out) 75 (46b, 3x4, 7x6), Dinesh Kaarthick c White b Appanna 6 (4b, 1x4), Kedar Jadhav (run out) 7 (9b), Daniel Vettori (not out) 19 (17b, 2x4). Extras (B-1, LB-4, W-2, NB-1) 8. Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 184.
 Fall of wickets: 1-41 (Sehwag), 2-52 (Gambhir), 3-83 (Warner), 4-90 (Kaarthick), 5-124 (Jadhav).
 Bowling: Anil Kumble 4-0-33-1, R Vinay Kumar 4-0-35-0, A Mithun 3-0-39-1 (w-1, nb-1), Jacques Kallis 3-0-26-0, Kevin Pietersen 1-0-3-0, KP Appanna 4-0-24-1, Cameron White 1-0-19-1 (w-1).
 Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 48/1; 10: 89/3; 15: 125/5; end of innings: 184/5 in 20 overs.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 54/1.

 ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Jacques Kallis c Collingwood b Sangwan 54 (42b, 5x4, 1x6), Cameron White c Warner b Mishra 4 (11b), Kevin Pietersen b Sangwan 16 (19b, 1x6), Robin Uthappa c Warner b Sangwan 12 (9b, 1x6), Ross Tayor lbw Bhatia 22 (10b, 3x6), Virat Kohli b Maharoof 13 (11b, 1x4), Rahul Dravid c Warner b Mishra 14 (9b, 2x4), R Vinay Kumar b Vettori 3 (3b), A Mithun b Mishra 5 (4b, 1x4), Anil Kumble (not out) 1 (1b), KP Appanna (not out) 1 (2b). Extras (LB-1, NB-1) 2. Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 147.
 Fall of wickets: 1-25 (White), 2-52 (Pietersen), 3-76 (Uthappa), 4-106 (Taylor), 5-118 (Kallis), 6-134 (Kohli), 7-137 (Vinay), 8-145 (Dravid), 9-145 (Mithun).
 Bowling: Farveez Maharoof 4-0-28-1, Amit Mishra 4-0-32-3 (nb-1), Daniel Vettori 4-0-40-1, Rajat Bhatia 4-0-24-1, Pradeep Sangwan 4-0-22-3.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 36/1; 10: 56/2; 15: 111/4; end of innings: 147/9 in 20 overs.
 Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 38/1.