T20 Cricket News

Delhi Daredevils 184 for 5 (Collingwood 75*, Sehwag 35, Appanna 2-24) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 147 for 9 (Kallis 54, Sangwan 3-22, Mishra 3-32) by 37 runs

Paul Collingwood outshone a glittering batting line-up to give Delhi Daredevils a big total, which their bowlers defended comfortably despite a late assault from Ross Taylor who tried to sweep them into oblivion. Virender Sehwag and David Warner played their cameos, but it was Collingwood who carried Delhi in the later half of their innings.

The first half of the match was a series of punches and counter-punches. Royal Challengers Bangalore kept coming back from aggressive knocks with wickets, but kept getting hitting back by knocks even more forceful. Sehwag's 22-ball 35 was ended by Abhimanyu Mithun, only for Warner to start hurting Bangalore. A smart catch from Virat Kohli stopped Warner at 33 off 22, only for Collingwood to provide the innings the final, and most important, thrust with an unbeaten 46-ball 75.

After Anil Kumble left out Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar to accommodate Ross Taylor and left-arm spinner KP Appanna, Bangalore's inexperienced attack could have been blown away by Sehwag and Warner. Kumble made sure Delhi didn't run away by bowling a two-run over, and Mithun responded by removing Sehwag second ball.

Between that, though, Sehwag raised some hell, hitting five fours and two sixes, taking Delhi to 35 in 4.2 overs despite that Kumble over. That second six was a demoralising hit off Mithun's first ball in this IPL, but he came right back with one that nipped back at Sehwag. The Bangalore fielders responded, running out Gautam Gambhir, and getting Warner through an overhead catch at the long-on boundary.

Between those plays, Warner had done some hell-raising himself, hitting three fours and two sixes to take Delhi to 83 in 9.4 overs. The immediate response to that wicket was an elegant straight-drive from Dinesh Karthik, but Bangalore again made sure Delhi didn't run away via a blinder from Cameron White at extra cover. This was a lift in fielding standards that the tournament desperately needed.

Quietly, though, by then Collingwood had played himself in by then and reached 14 off 15 courtesy a six-inch back-lift six while charging down to Jacques Kallis' slower ball. And his immediate response to Karthik's dismissal was to raise the back lift a little more, and punish White with two sixes and a four in his only over, taking Delhi to 111 after 12 overs.

No real explosion came in the next six overs, mainly because Delhi lost Kedar Jadhav too, but Collingwood kept Delhi going with two sixes - not into the stands, just over the fielders. The first of those hits brought up his fifty, but at 154 after 18 overs Delhi needed a big finish.

Collingwood was up to it again, this time punishing the youngster Mithun's length bowling. These two sixes were massive and 31 came off the last nine balls Collingwood faced. Even though Vinay Kumar finished off with a decent last over, 30 runs in the last two overs set up a delicious chase for a line-up boasting Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, Robin Uthappa, Taylor and White.

The second half of the match proved to be a bit of anti-climax. Bangalore opened with White and Kallis, but on a slow pitch they never could free themselves from Delhi bowler's choke hold after an 11-run first over. Farveez Maharoof, Amit Mishra and Daniel Vettori bowled in the Powerplay, giving them neither the pace nor the room. White took Mishra level with purple cap-holder Muttiah Muralitharan when he holed out to long-off in the fourth over. Mishra would go ahead and claim the purple cap with two tail-end wickets. Maharoof came back to concede just one run in the sixth over, consigning Bangalore to perhaps their worst Powerplay effort, at 38 for 1.

Rajat Bhatia, with his slow leggcutters, and Pradeep Sangwan, with his yorkers, were canny when bowling to Pietersen and Kallis in the overs soon after the restrictions, conceding only 13 in the next three overs. One of Sangwan yorkers consumed Pietersen in the 10th over, and Uthappa couldn't quite recreate the fireworks, and holed out to long-on, making it 76 for 3 after 11.5.

While Kallis stroked his way to another fifty, off 38 balls, same as Collingwood, Bangalore were missing an innings that would rattle Delhi. Taylor tried to do that, sweeping Mishra for three sixes in the 14th over, but Bhatia trapped him too far across in the next over.

Kallis' wicket in the over following that ended the contest, leaving Kohli and Rahul Dravid 67 to get off 25, and also a question if one of those two batsmen, and not Manish Pandey, should have made way for Taylor.

News Source