The Delhi Daredevils are building a team capable of challenging for the IPL 2017 title – a team filled with youthful talent and enough bowling experience to stop any side from going slam-bang. Kings XI Punjab were the latest team to fall under DD's spell with the first match of the new Indian Premier League season at the Feroz Shah Kotla going the home side's way.
Going against the trend by deciding to bat first, DD backed their strengths, and those came to the fore, with Sam Billings playing a nice innings at the top before the power, courtesy Corey Anderson, blew the Kings XI Punjab away.
As a result, the Delhi Daredevils got to 188 in their 20 overs, with the bowlers then doing their jobs perfectly to finish off the Kings XI Punjab with considerable ease.
KXIP were never in the chase really, not after they lost three wickets inside the Powerplay.
Whenever that happens, you invariably end up on the losing side, and with such a big score already to chase, losing those early wickets made the target look even bigger.
To nobody's surprise, Manan Vohra (3, 6b) was the first to go, trapped in front by Shahbaz Nadeem after missing a sweep shot.
Wriddhiman Saha (7, 5b, 1x4), sent in at No.3 again, then drove one to DD captain Zaheer Khan in the covers to give Nadeem his second wicket, before Hashim Amla (19, 12b, 4x4) was unlucky to find the one fielder in the deep on the onside, when he flicked a full toss to Billings at backward square off Chris Morris.
Eoin Morgan, in for Marcus Stoinis and playing his first game of the season, and David Miller (24, 28b, 1x4) were tasked with rebuilding the innings and keeping KXIP afloat, but with DD packed with quality bowler after quality bowler, that was always going to be a tall task.
The two stayed together for a while, but the runs didn't come as easily as they would have liked and, as a result, the required run rate just kept climbing up, with the equation, at the halfway stage of the chase, reading 125 runs from 60 balls, as Morgan (22, 20b, 3x4) fell off the last ball of the tenth over.
Next over, captain Glenn Maxwell was also dismissed, with the hope of an "M&M" special ending in the process and with it any chance of a stunning KXIP comeback, even if Axar Patel had a bit of six-hitting fun (44, 29b, 1x4, 3x6).
Earlier, DD rode on Billings' half-century and a brilliant finish from Anderson to finish on a score that was above par.
For the most part, DD looked on course for a score of around 160-170, with Billings anchoring the innings nicely.
The Englishman made sure the Daredevils got off to a fast start, taking the KXIP bowlers on when the ball was new and while Sanju Samson (19, 18b, 2x4, 1x6) and Karun Nair (0, 3b) fell close together, the home side remained in a decent position.
With Billings looking good in the middle and Shreyas Iyer keen to make an impression in his first match of IPL 2017, the Delhi Daredevils were on course for a par score or more, only for them to lose a bit of momentum with the loss of a couple of quick wickets.
Iyer (22, 17b, 3x4) holed out in the deep off Mohit Sharma, while Billings (55, 40b, 9x4), six balls later, did the same off Axar Patel.
That left the Delhi Daredevils on 103/4 with seven overs still to play, and this is where their powerful lower middle order came in.
Rishabh Pant (15, 9b, 3x4) came in and typically went on the attack from ball one, and while he fell after facing just nine balls, that momentum was carried forward by Anderson and Chris Morris.
The two put on 31 runs in just 2.4 overs, with the South African scoring the bulk of those runs.
However, once Morris (16, 8b, 1x4, 1x6) was caught in the deep in the 18th over, Anderson (39 n.o., 22b, 3x4, 3x6), with a little help from Pat Cummins (12 n.o., 6b, 2x4), took over, and how, smoking sixes and fours at will – 35 runs came off the last two overs – to take the Delhi Daredevils to a match-winning score.
Watch the highlights of DD vs KXIP HERE and HERE
Delhi Daredevils vs KXIP scorecard:
Toss: DD won the toss and chose to bat first.
Delhi Daredevils: 188/6 in 20 overs.
KXIP: 137/9 in 20 overs.
Result: DD won by 51 runs.
Bowling:
KXIP: Sandeep Sharma 4-0-41-1; Mohit Sharma 4-0-37-1; Axar Patel 4-0-33-1; Varun Aaron 4-0-45-2; KC Cariappa 3-0-23-1; Glenn Maxwell 1-0-7-0.
Delhi Daredevils: Zaheer Khan 4-0-38-0; Shahbaz Nadeem 2-0-13-2; Chris Morris 4-0-23-3; Pat Cummins 4-0-23-2; Amit Mishra 3-0-16-1; Corey Anderson 3-0-23-1.
Fall of wickets:
Delhi Daredevils: 53/1, Sanju Samson (6.5 overs); 55/2, Karun Nair (7.3 overs); 96/3, Shreyas Iyer (11.5 overs); 103/4, Sam Billings (12.5 overs); 120/5, Rishabh Pant (15.1 overs); 151/6, Chris Morris (17.5 overs).
KXIP: 5/1, Manan Vohra (1.4 overs); 21/2, Wriddhiman Saha (3.2 overs); 31/3, Hashim Amla (4.4 overs); 64/4, Eoin Morgan (10 overs); 65/5, Glenn Maxwell (10.3 overs); 88/6, David Miller (13.4 overs); 133/7, Mohit Sharma (18.5 overs); 134/8, KC Cariappa (19.1 overs); 137/9, Axar Patel (20 overs).
