Delhi into the playoffs with win over Punjab
Delhi Daredevils are the first team to confirm a place in the playoffs as they defeated the Kings XI Punjab by 5 wickets. The Delhi team still have two matches in hand and would be pretty pleased by the advantageous position they find themselves in, at the top of the table.
Delhi Daredevils batsman Jayawardene guided his team to victory with a patient half century
Match Recap
Punjab skipper, David Hussey won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch which assisted the fast bowlers. The decision seemed to backfire as the Delhi bowlers bowled tight lines restricting runs and at the same time managing to pick up regular wickets. Punjab at the halfway stage were just 63 for 4 and had a long way to go. They finally finished with 136 runs on the board for the loss of 8 wickets thanks largely to David Hussey’s innings of 40 which held the Punjab innings together. Delhi managed to get off to a bad start as they lost both their openers before the 4th over. The team was in deep trouble at 37 for 4 at the end of the 6th over. However a brilliant 65-run partnership between Jayawardene and Naman Ojha put Delhi back in the game and some big hitting from Irfan Pathan finished the match with 6 balls to spare. Jayawardene helped himself to a well deserved half century as he guided his team to victory.
The Turning Point
The turning point of the match is the wicket of Punjab batsman N. Siani. Till then Punjab had a good healthy run rate and also some momentum. However his wicket meant that 3 wickets were already gone and the Punjab team changed their approach to a more conservative one. It didn’t pay off as they continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and failed to stem the rot. Good pace bowling from Delhi Daredevils did the Punjabi batsmen in.
Where did Punjab go wrong?
Punjab’s score of 136 runs was too modest and they were surely 20 to 30 runs short. The regular fall of wickets hurt Punjab and they never did ever look like having control of the match while batting. They managed to scamper to 136 and put up a respectable fight but even that wouldn’t have been possible had David Hussey not stayed at the crease.
Where do the teams stand now?
Delhi Daredevils with the win, become the first team to enter the playoffs. They still have 2 more matches and look pretty at the top of the table. Punjab are still not totally out of contention but their road to the playoffs just got more difficult. They have two more matches in hand and would need to win both of them and hope some of the other results go in their favor to progress.
Game Rating
The match despite being a low scoring affair was a good one with some quality pace bowling and batting. It may not have ended in a tight finish and the scoreboard might show a comfortable 5 wicket win, but the truth is that the match was even stevens for most parts and was a good contest.
Punjab face an uphill task now to make it to the playoffs.
Conclusion
Delhi sit pretty at the top with no worries while Punjab now have to rethink their team plans and composition and play out of their skins to make it to the final four.