Delhi Daredevils won only for the second time in their last 12 home matches at the Feroz Shah Kotla, but this was one they’ll fans will cherish for a long while as they thrashed Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets.
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The comprehensive win in what was their last match at the Kotla this season lifted the Gary Kirsten-coached side to fourth in the table with eight points.
Delhi captain Jean-Paul Duminy won the toss and opted to field first, a decision that was proved right by his bowlers, led by veteran Indian spearhead Zahir Khan (2-17) and man-of-the-match Nathan Coulter-Nile (4-20).
Last year’s finalists Punjab, struggling massively this year, were restricted to 118 for eight. In reply, Delhi were never in trouble as their opening partnership of Mayank Agarwal (52 not out in 40 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (54 in 40 balls) put together 106 runs for the first wicket and reached the target in 13.5 overs.
ZAK is BACK #DDvsKXIP #IPL @DelhiDaredevils pic.twitter.com/3q16Hp9Alh
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2015
The win was Delhi’s fourth in eight matches this season, while Punjab continue to languish at the bottom of the table with their sixth loss in eight games.
Khan, playing his first competitive match in almost an year, struck with the second delivery of the match when he removed Virender Sehwag, caught at cover point by Angelo Mathews.
Punjab were in further trouble in the second over, bowled by Duminy, when their best batsman this season, Shaun Marsh, was trapped lbw to leave them reeling at 2-6.
Khan then had Manan Vohra edging to the wicket-keeper and it was 4-10 in the fourth over when Coulter-Nile got Wriddhiman Saha to induce a similar edge to ’keeper Kedar Jadhav again.
Bailey and David Miller added 27 runs, but the Aussie was dismissed for 18 when he missed a sweep off Amit Mishra and was rapped on the pads in front of his stumps. Thisara Perera came and was gone within eight runs being added.
At 6-45, it looked as if Punjab would not reach the three-figure mark, but Miller (42 in 41 balls) and Axar Patel (22) put together a 57-run stand for the seventh wicket.
The only bowling disappointment for Delhi was their top wicket-taker of the season, Imran Tahir, ending wicketless and conceding 36 runs in his three overs.
Coulter-Nile returned to remove both the batsmen in the penultimate over, to set up the stage for an entertaining opening wicket partnership between Agarwal and Iyer as Delhi cantered home.
