Dehli go Down Without a Fight, Again
DEHLI: Kings XI Punjab were never tested as they strolled to a 5-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils, as they chased down the meagre target of 121 in their Pepsi Indian Premier League match against Kings XI Punjab here today.
For Punjab, opener Mandeep Singh and later David Miller, played roles as they reached 121 in the 17th over. Mandeep Singh scores 24 off 15 balls with 5 fours and after losing skipper Adam Gilchrist cheaply again, added 44 runs with Luke Pomersbach (18 off 10).
After Mandeep was run out by a David Warner throw, David Miller scored a steady 34 off 39 balls to see his side home despite losing Manan Vohra for 8 and David Hussey (20 off 21 balls).
Earlier, Delhi Daredevils failed to make an impact as a batting unit as they scored a mere 120 for seven.
After their crushing victory over heavyweights Mumbai Indians on Sunday, much was expected from the home side batsmen, but they could only post a small total after being put in to bat at the Feroze Shah Kotla.
David Warner top-scored with a 36-ball 40 while Virender Sehwag, who hit a match-winning 95 not out against MI, contributed 23 off 21 balls. Delhi never had a substantial partnership as they lost wickets at regular intervals and the almost packed crowd was quiet for most part of the innings.
For KXIP, Harmeet Singh three grabbed wickets for 24 runs, while Praveen Kumar took two for 29.
Delhi made a disastrous start as captain Mahela Jayawardene (4) got out in the fourth delivery of the innings with just four runs on the board while trying to drive an outswinger bowled by Praveen Kumar for David Hussey to take an easy catch at wide slip.
Roelof van der Merwe (8) was promoted up the order but he did not last long as his innings ended after facing just nine balls. The South African's mistimed shot off Parvinder Awana ballooned in the air after finding the top edge of his bat for Mandeep Singh to take an easy catch at cover.
At 22 for two in the fourth over, Delhi were on the backfoot and much was expected from Sehwag's blade. But it was not to be Sehwag's day as, after hitting Harmeet Singh for a four and six off consecutive balls in the fifth over, he drove the same bowler up in the air in the seventh over for Mandeep Singh to take a fine catch at the extra-cover region.
At the halfway stage, Delhi were 54 for three and Kings XI Punjab skipper Adam Gilchrist's ploy of putting the opposition in seemed to be working fine.
Australia's Warner was in a punishing mood as he clobbered leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for a six and two fours to take 16 runs from the 11th over.
But just as the duo of Warner and Manprit Juneja looked like settling down for a big stand, the latter was out in the 14th over after a partnership of 39 runs in 6.3 overs.
Three balls later, new man in, Kedar Jadhav (0) became Harmeet's third victim and Delhi were 85 for five in the 14th over.
Johan Botha (1) departed before Warner became Praveen's second victim in the 18th over as Delhi failed to give the final thrust to put up a challenging total. They could score just 30 runs from the last five overs.
