The Indian Premier League match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Delhi Daredevils (DD) was a classic example of how a T20 match changes its course within a matter of an over. It was looking quite certain that the Royals would pick up the win over the table toppers DD, but a deadly blow by Morne Morkel in the last ball of 19th over denied something that was looking inevitable.
After Morkel removed Hodge in the 19th over, Royals required only 12 runs to win the match which is quite a normal target to achieve in a T20 match. But Umesh Yadav bowled a tidy line to restrict them to 151 and helped Delhi win the match by one run.
Here are few performances that mattered in outcome of the match:
Delhi Daredevils:
Hits
Virender Sehwag: He was once again the man for Delhi Daredevils. He led from the front on a day when the whole batting line failed to put up a substantial fight, he played a captain’s knock to help Delhi put a fighting total of 151. He scored 63 of 39 deliveries which included eight fours and two sixes.
Bowling efforts: Defending a title of 151 on Feroz Shah Kotla track was not an easy task to do, but the bowlers took the onus upon themselves to compensate for the batting lapse of their team. They bowled with discipline and even though they could not take many wickets they bowled a tight line and helped Daredevils clinch a thriller.
Flops:
Batting performance: For a batting lineup like Delhi Daredevils, the total they posted was a below par score. None of the teams could execute themselves properly apart from Sehwag.
Rajasthan Royals:
Ajinkya Rahane: He was again up to the task. The most successful batsmen of Rajasthan Royals, Ajinkya Rahane once again led their batting attack. Even though he could not help them win the match, he still played a knock that brought them so close. He breached the 80 runs mark yet again in the tournament. He scored an unbeaten 83 of 64 balls which included nine fours and a six.
Flops:
Amit Singh: On a day where Delhi was finding it difficult to score, he bowled with generosity. Even though he took two wickets, he gave away 41 runs in four overs.
By Samikshan Dutta Choudhary
Indian Sports News
