Delhi Dare Devils vs Kings X1 Punjab

First blip in the 2nd edition of IPL, with rain playing the spoilsport & delaying the game by almost two hours. The match has been reduced first to 14 overs & then re reduced to 12 each. Sehwag has won the toss for Delhi Daredevils & put Yuvi’s Kings X1 Punjab to bat. Interestingly, the Delhi Daredevils team have changed their jersey to something that can easily be mistaken for the England National ODI dress.
The match now really turned into a slam bang cricket, as reduced overs would mean hitting out from the word go.
Kings X1 Punjab started their innings with Ravi Bopara & Karan Goel, with overcast sky greeting them. The Delhi team strangely left out Mcgrath for Aviskar Salvi(remember him???) The opening pair got right off the screws & got themselves a flying start, & though the pitch had some assistance for the seamers, midway through, it was 67 for 1. Sixes kept pouring & Goel had already contributed 38 off just 21 deliveries before holing out. Ravi too left in the very next delivery to Daniel Vetorri, & at crease were two new batsman in Yuvi & Sangakarra.

Runs suddenly dried up, & pressure mounted, as Vetorri consumed Sangakarra & Jayawardane as well, giving almost nothing away. He also got Yuvi run out & Piyush Chawla also followed suit in similar fashion in the very next delivery. Pathan was no good either, & the innings folded t 104 for 7……. At least a good 20 runs short of what looked like possible. Vettori getting 3 for 15…one more brilliant performance.

Delhi started with Gautam Gambhir & Sehwag, probably the best opening pair in the world today, & as usual they got going in whirlwind fashion. 24 runs on board after 1.5 overs when the sky opened up to rains, & the players had to rush back to the dugout. When play resumed, the Delhi team had only 30 runs to make of 25 deliveries(Duckworth Lewis method) …… ridiculously simple. Sehwag continued from where he had left, &finally finished the game for Delhi Daredevils with a big six. He had made 38 of just 19 deliveries.

Man of the Match was Daniel Vettori, for his sensational bowling, which did not allow Yuvi’s team to put up a big total.

Sad end to what could have been a more entertaining game.