It went haywire for Pune Warriors India (PWI) from the first over of the match when Jesse Ryder departed for a duck and then in the next over skipper Sourav Ganguly followed the suit and was out after scoring just 1. Even though PWI did not lose any further wicket throughout the innings they could post a target of only 147, which Delhi Daredevils (DD) reached without much trouble. The win has now given Delhi an outright lead at the top of the table with 10 points whereas Pune lie on the fourth position.
Let us now have a look at some of the performances which determined the course of the match:
Hits and flop of the Delhi Daredevils:
Hits:
Virender Sehwag: He was the man who was looking certain to take DD all the way in Feroz Shah Kotla as well two days back when they took on the PWI. But he failed, but this time around he played with more determination and made sure to that his team emerges victorious in this return leg match up at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune. He led from the front and switched to the rampage mode from the onset. He stayed till the end and scored 87 runs from 48 deliveries which included 10 fours and three huge sixes.
Kevin Petiersen: He already showed what he can do in this format of the game after he registered a century against Deccan Chargers few nights back. But yesterday on a day where the target was not huge he played a perfect second fiddle to his skipper and with his occasional hits took the burden off Sehwag. He scored 27 of 21 balls and his knock was laced with one boundary and two sixes.
Flops:
Umesh Yadav: He is one of the premier fast bowlers of Indian National Team and Delhi Daredevils, but yesterday he flattered to deceive. On a day where PWI found it difficult to score runs, Yadav bowled generously and leaked 40 runs from his four overs, without taking a wicket.
Hit and flops of Pune Warriors India
Hits:
Manish Pandey: He played with determination and refused to get intimidated by the likes of Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav. He played with authority and made hitting look easy on a day when it looked even single would be difficult to come. He scored at a breezy rate of 142.85 for his 56 balls 80 which included seven fours and three sixes.
Robin Uthappa: It was a different Robin Uthappa on display yesterday. He played according to the need of the hour and scored 60 off 58 deliveries. He played the role of second fiddle with perfection and stitched an unbroken partnership of 145 with Aggarwal, the first century stand for PWI.
Flops:
Bowlers: PWI bowling department bowled like they were not up for the challenge at any point of time in the match. They went for runs from the beginning of the innings and even though they got two wickets they looked completely scattered. They let DD reach the target of 147 in just 16 overs, which might act as a deciding factor somewhere down the line if net run rate ever comes into consideration to determine the top four teams.
By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News
