Billings and Morris star as Daredevils thrash Kings XI
NEW DELHI: Amit Mishra’s words before the match proved prophetic as Delhi Daredevils’ bowling attack proved to be the deciding factor for the hosts against Kings XI Punjab at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Saturday night.
Chris Morris took 3/23 and Shahbaz Nadeem and Pat Cummins contributed two wickets each as Daredevils defeated KXIP by 51 runs for their second successive victory.
Mishra had told a pre-match press conference: “Our bowling attack is better than theirs and that will be a big plus for us on Saturday. The boys have bowled brilliantly till now, and if we can carry on like that, it will be really difficult to beat us.”
That was exactly the case at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium as the KXIP batsmen struggled to score runs after a disciplined DD attack and slumped to their second loss of the tournament.
That didn’t mean the Daredevils batsmen didn’t do their bit, piling up 188 for six with Sam Billings scoring 55 off 40 balls. In reply, Kings XI were restricted to 137 for nine. Despite the solid score, KXIP, led by Glenn Maxwell, had the firepower to chase down. Leftarm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem provided the first breakthrough when he struck in the second over by trapping Manan Vohra leg before for three runs. Vohra tried a paddle sweep, but the ball was too quick and beat his bat to hit the pad. It went from bad to worse for Kings XI Punjab when they lost Wriddhiman Saha and Hashim Amla in the span of eight balls. The early wickets did not allow KXIP to score runs quickly and it resulted in the required rate jumping. Eoin Morgan and David Miller tried to bring the team back into the game with a 33-run partnership, but the burden of runs proved too much for Morgan as he was caught at backward point trying a lofted shot. Maxwell was dismissed for a duck, caught by Sam Billings off Mishra, as KXIP lost their fifth wicket in the 11th over. Miller too did not last long and his innings (24 off 28 balls) came to an end when he was trapped leg before by all-rounder Corey Anderson, who had lashed an unbeaten 39 earlier.
Axar Patel (44 off 29 balls) did come up with some big shots towards the end, but it was too late as KXIP paid the price for a lack of proper partnerships.
Delhi Daredevils scored 188/6 thanks to a brilliant fifty from Sam Billings. This was the second IPL fifty for the England wicketkeeper batsman and his innings comprised nine boundaries. Billings was involved in a 53-run partnership with Sanju Samson for the first wicket and it give his team the perfect foundation to post a big total in their first home game. However, the dismissal of Samson in the seventh over opened the floodgates as DD kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Shreyas Iyer (22) and Rishabh Pant (15) got starts, but were unable to convert them into a big score while Karun Nair fell for a duck.