The Indian Premier League!: Match-32, DD vs KXIP, Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi!

MATCH-32

DD vs KXIP

Venue- Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi
Match Officials- V. Kulkarni, K. Srinath, M. Erasmus(Umpires), R.Madugalle(Refree)

Toss- KXIP won the toss and chose to Field first!

Result- KXIP won by 5 wickets with 3 overs to spare!

Man Of The Match- HARMEET SINGH

Match Report-

DD and KXIP were both high on confidence as they had won their previous matches against MI and PWI respectively! KXIP won the toss and chose to field first! And they got a early break-through in Jayawardene as he was caught by David Hussey in the first over bowled by Praveen Kumar! DD sent in the South African van der Merve. But this ploy by them didn't work as he walked back in 4th over, so the experiment didn't work! On no. 4 came the regular opening batsman Warner to join Sehwag! Sehwag hit Harmeet Singh for four and six on 2 consecutive balls in the 5th over! But the bowler came back well in next over and took the wicket of in-form Sehwag, who scored 23(21)! Spinners were introduced by Gilchrist in 8th over! Hussey bowled a great spell in between. Warner and Juneja couldn't free their arms against Hussey! After bowling a good 9th over, Piyush Chawla went for 16 in his second and inning's 11th over. DD were 70/3 in 11 overs. Harmeet was brought back in to the attack after a couple of quiet overs by the spinners. And he removed Juneja on a short ball, to take his 2nd wicket! In the same over Kedar Jadhav played a rash shot to give his wicket away! Warner fought alone and scored 40(36) before he got out in 18th over. DD were restricted at 120/7 in their 20 overs.

It was a job half done by KXIP bowlers for the team. Now it was turn for their batsmen to seal this game. Gilchrist lasted for just 3 balls as Pathan got his wicket in first over! In next 2 overs Mandeep Singh hit 4 boundaries while Luke Pomersbach hit 2 boundaries. 40/1, KXIP were up and flying after 3 overs! 5th over of the innings brought DD back into the contest. Van der Merve first dismissed Pomersbach[18(10)] while after 2 balls in the same over Mandeep Singh [24(15)] was run out. 51/3 after 5 overs, Vohra and Miller tried to compensate a bit, but Vohra was done in flight by Botha in 10th over. Overseas duo of Miller and experienced Hussey applied themselves on the wicket, and made sure that they don't loose another wicket. They shared partnership of 40 in 6 and half overs. With another 10 runs needed in 27 balls, Hussey was out. But that was too late for DD! Piyush Chawla and Miller [34(39)] then finished off the match with 3 overs to spare!

My Views-

DD were back in their original form in this match! They lost their way against Mumbai, where they won, but they recovered quickly and came back to loosing ways!! Trying to repeat what they did against MI they failed today. They tried to attack from the word go, even when the wickets were falling, they were playing some needless shots. Their bowlers and fielders tried to pull the things back for them after a KXIP attacked in power play but it wasn't enough!
KXIP were outstanding today! They were brilliant with bowl and also in the field. Form of their captain with bat remains a worry for them! Gilly is not firing at all nor he is playing through the innings to guide the youngsters. But he is doing well behind the wickets. We might see change of captain for KXIP in next match! They also lost their way at the end powerplay where they lost 3 quick wickets. But Miller and Hussey played good knocks.
Harmeet Singh who took early wickets of Sehwag and Juneja along with Kedar Jadhav's wicket in the end was named Man Of The Match for his outstanding bowling figures 4-0-29-3!