An all round display by Pune Warriors India (PWI) helped them beat the table toppers Delhi Daredevils in a group stage match up of the Indian Premier League Season V. Going by the performance in the tournament, the match billed Delhi Daredevils (DD) as the favorites but by some clinical performance by the Pune team saw them denying the odds and run away with the win.

Here are some of the hits and flops of the match:

Pune Warriors India

Hits

Sourav Ganguly: It was the aura of their skipper Sourav Ganguly which was too much for the DD to handle. The former Indian captain first played a second fiddle to Jesse Ryder and breached the 40 runs mark for the first time in the tournament. He scored 41 at a strike rate of 117.14 and hit five fours and a six. And then when DD were cruising at a score of 87-1 in nine overs, he took the onus upon himself and his first delivery of the IPL V saw him cleaning the dangerous Kevin Pieterson. But then he was not done yet and came back the next over to dismiss Irfan Pathan. He returned with the figures of two for 27 and was also named the man of the match.

Jesse Ryder:  The left hander from New Zealand has showed some great prowess in the tournament and his knock of 86 runs of 58 deliveries which included seven fours and four sixes batted the home team out of the match.

Steven Smith: He has helped PWI win couple of matches in tournament and even yesterday this young all rounder from Australia helped a lot in changing the course of the match. When Ganguly departed it looked like PWI would settle for something for around 170 and but his 13 balls 34 which included four fours and two sixes helped Pune post an imposing 192.

Alfonso Thomas: He came straight off the bench and it did not take him time to exert his authority on the field. He bowled superbly and to scalp three wickets by away just 22 runs.

Flops:

Bowling duo of Angelo Matthews and Rahul Sharma: Even though there spell had little impact on the match, but it sure did give Ganguly some intense moments in the field. Two of his most skilled bowlers went for more than 50 in four over that they bowled among themselves. Even though it did not prove fatal in the due course of the match, they sure would have to pull up their socks in the matches to come.

Delhi Daredevils:

Hits:

Virender Sehwag: He showed what he can do with the bat when he is in the groove. He started hitting the ball from the onset and was looking as though he would single handedly take the home side to the victory. He scored 57 off 32 deliveries. He scored at an astonishing rate of 178.12 and hit five fours and four sixes.

Kevin Pieterson: He was looking in great touch and was on course to a huge score again after his century against the Deccan Chargers. He scored 32 off 23 including one four and three sixes off Angelo Matthews in one over.

Morne Morkel: Most lethal weapon in their bowling department, stood up to the test again. He went for 50 in his four overs but scalped all the three wickets that PWI lost. If he had not struck those blows it could have been even worse for the DD.

Flops:

Overall performance of the batting and bowling department: Barring two or three substantial performances, the team failed as a whole.  They failed with the ball and when they had to bat barring Sehwag and Pieterson none of them could take up the challenge and collapsed like nine pins.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhary

Indian Sports News