IPL 2016: Pune’s all-round brilliance puts Delhi on the verge of elimination
Rising Pune Supergiants beat Delhi Daredevils by 13 runs via D/L on a rain-soaked day in Vishakhapatnam on Tuesday night with an all-round display. Bowlers Adam Zampa and Ashok Dinda picked three wickets each to cripple the Delhi batting before a Morris blitz helped them post a paltry 121 on board.
Brief Scores: DD 121/6 in 20 overs (Karun 41(43), Morris 38(20), Dinda 3/19, Zampa 3/21) lose to RPSG 76/1 in 11 overs (Rahane 42(36), Morris 1/12) by D/L method
Bottom dwellers versus playoff-hopefuls. Nothing at stake versus the road to a first IPL trophy at stake. This was perfectly set up for a comfortable Delhi win you would think, but Dhoni, missing out on the playoffs for the first time, had pride to defend in the remaining games.
He swiftly chose to bowl first after winning the toss under cloud cover. DD captain Zaheer Khan said he would have batted first anyway, so the toss was apparently pointless. Either way, Delhi made mandatory changes to their side, as has been the norm, by bringing in Shreyas Iyer, Mohammad Shami and Nathan Coulter Nile. Out went Imran Tahir, Shehbaz Nadeem and Mayank Agarwal. Deepak Chahar, the bowler who took 8 wickets vs Hyderabad in Ranji, came in to replace Murugan Ashwin in the Pune team.
1. De Kock’s first innings woes continue, Delhi stutter
Quinton de Kock, a bit like Rohit Sharma, has come to life in the second innings of matches, and it has fit in perfectly with Delhi’s bowl-first mantra. But de Kock has averaged only 9 when Delhi have batted first until tonight, and he continued the trend with a lowly 2 runs before Ashok Dinda brought the South African’s misery to an end. De Kock’s poor start has invariably led to the top order feeling the heat, and tonight was no different. Iyer and Samson, soon joined de Kock back in the pavilion, and once Rishabh Pant departed soon after, Delhi were left reeling at 62/4 after 13 overs.
2. Karun Nair anchors the ship, Zampa sinks it further, Morris gives hope
One man who stood through the bloodshed was Karun Nair. With some textbook shots and smart decision making, when wickets kept tumbling at the other end, Nair showed his teammates how to get the job done. His strike-rate never reached above 125, but that is exactly what the situation demanded. Nair waited for the loose deliveries and hit 5 boundaries enroute to a well-made 41. It was only fitting that he got out to the best bowler on the night in Adam Zampa. Zampa who cuaght the eye with his 6-for just a week back, wrecked havoc again tonight. The Australian bowler now has 11 wickets in only 4 matches. Maybe Dhoni missed a trick in the earlier part of the season?
Delhi managed to cross 1000, and reach 121, all in one over, as Chris Morris finished with a bang milking 22 runs in the end.
3. Rain interrupts Pune's party
Ajinkya Rahane and Usman Khawaja started the Pune innings brightly, with the latter taking charge early. But once Morris snapped the Australian for 19, the brakes were enforced on the Pune batting. Partly due to some good bowling by Morris and Mishra, but majorly due to the downpour from the skies. The first rain break came when Pune were steadily heading towards their target at 57/1. Those showers didn't last long enough, so Rahane and Bailey again came out to bat, but after adding another 19 runs, the umpires decided to call the game off owing to further rains. Pune, always ahead of the par D/L score, won by 19 runs.
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