Dinesh Karthik’s match-winning 38-ball 69 helped the Delhi DareDevils end Rajasthan Royals’ four-match winning streak in an Indian Premier League match at the Kotla on Wednesday.
The 67-run victory, third on the trot for the DareDevils, takes the home team to 10 points and second on the table and they are now looking like serious contenders for a semi-final berth. The Royals remain on eight points.
It was a wonderful show by Delhi which came back strongly once Karthik led the way, scoring 188 for six. A target of 189 was always going to be challenging on a slow track and Rajasthan lost the battle in the very first over when Farvez Mahroof snared two wickets. The icing on the cake was some superb work by David Warner in the outfield. His four catches and a run out highlighted the significance of good fielding in this format of the game as the Royals folded for 121 in 17.4 overs.
The DareDevils batting line-up has thrown up a new hero in almost every match and it was the turn of Karthik to hog the limelight on Wednesday. Coming in at No.6 when the home team were tottering at 67 for four, the batsman from Tamil Nadu launched a calculated offensive to take the team to a position of strength.
From a modest 120 for four in 15 overs, the hosts reached 188 for six mainly due to the efforts of Karthik and skipper Gautam Gambhir (43 in 37 balls). The duo added 79 runs for the fifth wicket to totally derail the Royals’ plans.
In reply, the Royals’ batting could do little despite Delhi being without their key bowler — Dirk Nannes — who has been ruled out for 7 days because of a finger injury. With all their in-form batsmen, including Naman Ojha and Yusuf Pathan failing to impress, the Royals looked a rudderless lot.
The Royals lost the match in the very first over of the chase. Sri Lanka bowler Mahroof removed both Michael Lumb and Faiz Fazal, with his second and the fifth deliveries, and the visitors could never recover from that shock.
Pathan struck a brisk 24 off 14 balls before he was caught at long-on by Warner while trying to hit Amit Mishra out of the ground.
The day, however, belonged to Karthik and Gambhir. The DareDevils captain played second fiddle when he found the wicketkeeper batsman was in a punishing mood. Karthik, who waited for the right balls, smashed four sixes and six fours.
Gambhir was far more restrained, hitting only three fours. But at the same time, he kept the scoreboard ticking. The partnership between Karthik and Gambhir was extremely important for the DareDevils, who lost Warner, Virender Sehwag and Paul Collingwood cheaply by the sixth over.
Among the Royals bowlers, Sumit Narwal had a good day in office despite being hit for two sixes in the crucial 17th over. He captured the three prized wickets of Warner, Sehwag and Gambhir.
Karthik attributed his success to skipper Gambhir’s tips.
"We were under a bit of pressure after losing four wickets for 67 runs,” said Karthik. “Gauti (Gautam) told me to stay around for as long as possible and not to lose patience.”
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100401/jsp/sports/story_12290000.jsp
No comments:
Post a Comment