After 11 consecutive defeats and what looked suspiciously like a choke in their previous game, finally Delhi Daredevils recorded a win. In the field, they were disciplined and resilient, never allowing Kings XI Punjab to cut loose, before Mayank Agarwal and Yuvraj Singh negotiated the chase towards a moderate but tricky target with intelligence, skill and composure.
After winning the toss and batting – Delhi would have batted too – Punjab could not replicate the fast start of their weekend win over Mumbai Indians. The top scorer was Virender Sehwag but his 47 came from 41 balls and though Wriddhiman Saha – the hero in last season’s losing final effort – injected some tempo alongside him, he was bowled by Amit Mishra for 39, with 43 balls still remaining.
An over later Sehwag followed, and though Glenn Maxwell quickly hit two sixes, he fell to Imran Tahir’s googly attempting a third. JP Duminy then bowled David Miller, before Tahir concluded George Bailey’s and Axar Patel’s swift thrashes.
Given their circumstance, Delhi might have been minded to throw the bat early on – that has certainly been Agarwal’s method so far – but instead, they opted to accumulate, mainly knocking the ball around for ones and twos. Shreyas Iyer went early, but Duminy consolidated and was slightly unfortunate to be run out when Patel, fielding off his own bowling, brilliantly tossed the ball at the non-striker’s stumps from behind his back, before falling across the batsman’s path.
This brought to the wicket Yuvraj, the IPL’s most expensive player but still one suspect against pace; unhelpful when the opposition can call upon Mitchell Johnson. However, as Johnson struggled to find a consistent line, he and Agarwal maintained equilibrium, punishing anything too straight or on the pads and freeing their arms as they neared their total. Both were out before the end, Yuvraj for 55 and Agarwal for 68, but by that time victory was certain.
