IPL 10, Match 15, Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab: 5 Tracking Points

Delhi Daredevils played their first home game of the season when they hosted Kings XI Punjab at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. It was expected to be a slow pitch and not much dew was expected in the night and Zaheer Khan made the decision to bat first after winning the toss. It was a big call as most teams were opting to field first and the results too went in their favor. But Zaheer’s call turned out to be a masterclass as they put up a massive score on the board.

The openers Sanju Samson and Sam Billings gave them a solid start and added 53 runs for the first wicket before Samson departed in the 7th over. Karun Nair failed to trouble the scorers but Shreyas Iyer playing his first game built up a good partnership with Billings. They put together 41 runs for the fourth wicket after which Iyer was dismissed. Billings carried on to make a half-century but soon departed and was followed by Rishabh Pant as well. The late cameos from Corey Anderson, Chris Morris and Pat Cummins helped them post a total of 188 at the end of 20 overs.

KXIP’s chase was dented early when Shahbaz Nadeem accounted for Manan Vohra’s wicket in the 2nd over. There were two more quick wickets in the form of Hashim Amla and Wriddhiman Saha that hurt them badly. Eoin Morgan and David Miller stitched together a decent stand that gave them some hope but the Englishman departed in the 10th over. A flurry of wickets fell post that and the required run rate just kept increasing. Axar Patel fought the lone battle till the end but it turned out to be too late.

Here are the 5 tracking points as DD won the match by 51 runs.

A fine innings from Billings

The opening batsman from England had two decent starts in the league prior to the game but he did not carry on to make a big one in any of the occasions. But this time, he finally converted that into a half-century. He began well by striking two back to back boundaries off Mohit Sharma in the second over. In the 5th over, he sent three consecutive deliveries off Varun Aaron to the boundary and was looking good for plenty more. He brought up his fifty off 36 balls but soon departed for 55 in the hunt for quick runs.

Anderson’s dual effort

The Australian all-rounder proved his money’s worth by putting up an all-round performance. He played a nice innings with the bat that provided the impetus to the total. He scored 39 runs off 22 balls that included 3 fours and 3 sixes. His efforts at the end helped the DD total edge past 18. Then, it was with the ball where he dismissed David Miller who was setting himself up to play the decisive knock. He ended with figures of 1/23 in 3 overs and also was named the Man of the Match.

Morris’s superb run continues

Morris has done a tremendous job for DD so far just like he did last year. He has contributed heavily with both bat and bowl and has proved to be one of the best all-rounders of the season so far. In this match, first, he played a cameo at the death stage of the DD innings and scored 16 runs off 8 balls with a four and a six. Then, with the ball, bagged 3 wickets for 23 runs in 4 overs. Hashim Amla, KC Cariappa and Axar Patel were his victims with the ball.

Lack of quality spin hurting KXIP

The surface at the Kotla was slow and wasn’t an easy one to bat on. On such pitches, spinners are the dominating bowlers which the DD side was blessed with the presence of Amit Mishra and Shahbaz Nadeem. They bagged 3 wickets between them and turned out to be the difference between the two teams. Although Axar Patel did well with the ball, yet he doesn’t have a quality spinner in the side to back him up. Cariappa played just his first game of the season but wasn’t as effective.

Axar’s lone battle

The left-arm spinner had a terrific outing in the game and was the sole bright spot in a rather dismal show from the KXIP side. First, he bowled well and picked up a crucial wicket of Sam Billings to end up with figures of 1/33. Then, with the bat, fought till the end and scored 44 runs off 29 balls that included a four and 3 sixes. The equation kept getting tougher and he kept losing partners but he wasn’t willing to give up and was the last wicket to fall in the innings. Although KXIP fell short by plenty, yet they can take heart from Axar’s all-round effort.