The Guardian/New Delhi
Kings XI Punjab’s woes continued as they were thrashed by nine wickets yesterday by Delhi Daredevils after a substandard batting display.
The first over was a battle of the veterans, with Virender Sehwag opening the batting and Zaheer Khan the bowling. It was the latter who proved the unequivocal victor as he removed Sehwag for one with the second ball of the match.
On a pitch whose bounce was about as easy to read as a James Joyce novel, the IPL’s bottom side and last year’s beaten finalists, Kings XI, made a nightmare start as JP Duminy removed Shaun Marsh with the first ball of the second over, Zaheer took his second wicket – Manan Vohra this time – in the third and Nathan Coulter-Nile removed Wriddhiman Saha in the fourth to reduce them to 10 for four.
George Bailey, the Kings XI captain, and David Miller found themselves facing a huge task in rebuilding the innings, and it proved beyond them as Amit Mishra made it 37 for five, trapping the Australian lbw after a partnership of 27.
Thisara Perera hooked Coulter-Nile to the square-leg fielder to give the Australian his second wicket. With all the recognised batsmen back in the dugout, Miller launched a counterattack and put on 57 with Axar Patel from 8.2 overs, before the latter holed out in the penultimate over. Miller followed him three balls later for 42, giving Coulter-Nile his fourth wicket for 20 runs in an outstanding spell.
The Daredevils, and Shreyas Iyer in particular, began the chase briskly, taking 19 from the IPL debutant Shardul Thakur’s first over and completing the 50 partnership – the Daredevils openers’ first in this year’s competition – in the seventh over.
Despite the bowler-friendly pitch, the opening pair rarely looked troubled. Iyer made 54 from 40 balls before being caught in the deep only 13 runs short of the target. His partner, Mayank Agarwal, made an unbeaten 52 to see the Daredevils home by nine wickets, with 37 balls to spare.
BRIEF SCORES: Delhi Daredevils 119 for 1 (Iyer 54, Agarwal 52*) beat Kings XI Punjab 118 for 8 (Miller 42, Coulter-Nile 4-20, Zaheer 2-17) by nine wickets
Mumbai hold off Royals after Samson scare
Mumbai Indians scripted back-to-back wins after they edged past Rajasthan Royals by just eight games at the Wankhede Stadium. Chasing a stiff total of 188, the Royals fell agonisingly short and a brilliant 76 from Sanju Samson was in vain.
At various points, particularly when Samson was at the crease, Royals looked in control of the chase. But Mumbai’s bowlers, unlike Royals’, found their lengths at the death.
Together, Mitchell McClenaghan and Lasith Malinga conceded only 14 runs in the 18th and 19th overs, and picked up three wickets.
It left Royals 20 to get from the final over, and even though Vinay Kumar made things interesting with a couple of high full-tosses - one of which was a no-ball that produced both a catch in the deep and a run-out - it was too much of a hurdle to cross. Having made a storming start to the season, Royals went winless for the fifth match in a row.
Earlier, Mumbai posted 187/5, thanks to a late surge from Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard.
“We’re starting to peak our performance right now. Defending that score wasn’t easy, but we put up a big score and it was good to see that being defended,” Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma said.
BRIEF SCORES: Mumbai Indians 187 for 5 (Rayudu 53*, Simmons 38, Kulkarni 2-26) beat Rajasthan Royals 179 for 7 (Samson 76, McClenaghan 3-31) by eight runs
Mumbai Indians’ Ambati Rayudu (R) in action against Rajasthan Royals yesterday. (BCCI)
