DELHI RULES PUNJAB
Delhi Daredevils produced an all-round show to thrash Kings XI Punjab by 51 runs in their IPL match here on Saturday.
Electing to bat, Delhi rode on Sam Billings (55) second IPL half-century and Corey Anderson’s (39 not out) late fireworks to post a respectable 188 for six.
The home side then restricted KXIP to 137 for 9 to notch up their second win in three matches.
Delhi were clinical in their bowling as their bowlers never allowed the KXIP batsmen to stitch any substantial partnership.
But it was really not a day to remember for Delhi Daredevils’ young guns.
It needed a thunderous display of ball-striking from Kiwi all rounder Corey Anderson (39 not out, 22b, 3x4, 3x6) and assistance from Pune hero Chris Morris (16, 8b) to put some meat on the Devils’ bones after a mid-overs wobble.
Between them, Corey Anderson, Chris Morris and Pat Cummis (12 not out, 6b) helped put on 68 runs in the final five overs after the top and middle order, barring opener Sam Billings had struggled to come to terms with a twopaced pitch.
Punjab’s bowlers also deserved credit for realising the pitch was not making life easy for the batsmen, and kept things simple and straight.
As many as five of the six wickets to fall were to catches in the deep Sanju Samson and Rishab Pant struggled with their timing and only the thrust provided by Billings (55, 40b, 8x4) helped give the home team’s total some initial substance.
Samson (19, 18b, 2x4, 1x6) looked off his game but still hung around long enough to give Billings company in a 50-plus opening stand that made sure Delhi would get past the first 10 overs with 80-plus on the board.
At that stage they were looking good to get a reasonable score on the board, but some extremely poor shot selections by the middle order batsman almost stalled that initial push for glory.
For Kings XI Punjab, Varun Aaron had two wickets despite some wayward bowling, four others chipping in with one apiece.