In-form David Warner played yet another blistering knock of 66 as Delhi Daredevils comfortably defeated defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in a Pepsi Indian Premier League match at Raipur on Wednesday.
Delhi Daredevils rode on a well-paced half-century by David Warner, some quality bowling and some superb fielding to comprehensively beat Kolkata Knight Rider by 7 wickets in Raipur on Wednesday night.
Chasing a modest target of 137, in-form David Warner and young Unmukt Chand (37, 4x4) added 95 runs for the third-wicket partnership as the 'home' team won the game with 13 balls to spare.
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David Warner scored a match-winning unbeaten 66.
This was also a sweet revenge for Daredevils, who had lost in the tournament opener against the same side.u00a0
The win was Daredevils' third in the competition and with six points, they managed to stay afloat in the competition.u00a0
KKR slumped to their seventh defeat in 10 matches due to another shoddy batting and fielding performance. Although Delhi remain on eighth position but back-to-back wins will definitely give them a lot of confidence for their coming matches.u00a0
It was Warner again, who is doing what exactly Kevin Pietersen did last season as he revels in the role of a finisher. His unbeaten 66 off 42 balls had five fours and three sixes and he always looked in control despite the loss of the two senior openers.u00a0
Virender Sehwag (17) got a 'life' when Gambhir dropped a dolly at short cover with the batsman on 11. But the veteran opener failed to cash in as he guided a delivery from Jacques Kallis to Yusuf Pathan at first slip who caught it on second attempt.
Mahela Jayawardene (5) was also dismissed in an identical fashion as he gave a catch to Jacques Kallis at first slip off Lakshmipathy Balaji's bowling.
Warner started with a cover drive off Balaji and then hooked a bouncer from Kallis for a six. Rajat Bhatia was unlucky as Warner got two reprieves off his bowling. First it was Manvinder Bisla, who failed to effect a stumping and then Kallis missed a skier which went for six.
Unmukt also did some justice to his talent as he played some deft shots including a glance and an upper-cut off Kallis.u00a0
The 50-run partnership came off 47 balls while the 100 came in 15 overs. Warner completed his half-century off 35 balls with two successive pull shots off Balaji -- one in front of the wicket and the other over square leg as they inched closer towards victory.
Credit goes to Warner and Chand for playing out 'Mystery Spinner' Sunil Narine's four overs (0/14) without taking any risks and then deciding to attack other bowlers.
KKR skipper Gambhir's decision to play bowling allrounder Sumit Narwal was inexplicable as he wasn't given a single over to bowl.
Incidentally, KKR managed to cross the 100-run mark and due to Delhi's domestic veterans Rajat Bhatia (26 not out) and Sumit Narwal (23, 15 balls, 4x4). The duo added 30 runs in only three overs as KKR managed to cross 130-run mark despite being five down for 50 even before the halfway mark.
Irfan Pathan took a wicket, effected a run-out and took a brilliant catch to help Delhi restrict KKR to just 136.u00a0
Brett Lee (16 not out) also used the long handle to good effect as Ashish Nehra (1/37) gave away 16 runs in the final over of the innings.
Irfan Pathan (1/16), Shahbaz Nadeem (1/23), Morne Morkel (1/22) bowled well while Umesh Yadav (2/36) was a tad expensive despite claiming a couple of wickets.
The Daredevils got an important breakthrough off the second delivery of the match when rival skipper Gautam Gambhir (0) was unlucky to be run-out. Irfan did well on his follow through as Gambhir trying to rush for a quick single from the non-striker end fell short of his ground.
With the pitch offering some lateral movement, Umesh bowled a fantastic first over where he swung the ball away from the batsman at a brisk pace.
One such delivery saw Manvinder Bisla (4) trying to make room for a shot over extra cover only to see his off-stump knocked back.
Yusuf Pathan (20) played and missed a number of deliveries before hitting Morkel over long-on for a six but was out of the very next delivery when the South African speedster pitched it further up. He again tried to hoick it but only managed the top edge and Irfan, who was positioned at '45', took a well-judged catch running backwards.
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