Match Review of Delhi Daredevils vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Indian Premier League
Date 2nd May 2011
Team Delhi Daredevils vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala
Match no. 41
Venue Firoz Shah kotla, New Delhi
Umpires Asad Rauf and S.L. Shastri Third Umpire: A. M. Saheba
Toss Kochi Tuskers won the toss and elected to field

Playing XI

Kochi Tuskers Kerala Mahela Jayawardane © Michael Klinger B. McCullum Parthiv Patel Brad Hodge R. Jadeja Raiphi Gomez Prashanth Paramesawarn S. Srisanth R. Vinay Kumar R. P. Singh

Delhi Daredevils David Warner Virender Sehwag © Naman Ojha Venugopal Rao Travis Birt Yogesh Nagar Irfan Pathan Morne Morkel R. Van der Merwe Ajit Agarkar Umesh Yadav

The Delhi Daredevils all set to host Kochi Tuskers at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Tuskers recently tasted a defeat against the Daredevils on their home ground. Their army had everything to settle back. Though, it was a tough ask as the Daredevils had the full support of the home crowd.

Both teams have had a very poor season so far. Daredevils, out of the 8 leagues played, they have managed to win only 3, with no consecutive victories. Tuskers are also sailing the same boat with exactly same figures, the only difference being that all their victories were in a row. Both teams desperately needed a win to get some momentum going and to push themselves towards the play-off places.

Jayawardane the Tusker's captain knew the fact that Daredevils completely rely on the openers and if he could get them early, Kochi would have an upper hand. Tuskers Captain won the toss and put the Daredevils to bat.

The two regular openers Virender Sehwag & David Warner came to bat. With Sehwag on the field there has to be action. He smashed 2 fours and a six. 20 runs in just 2.1 overs, the minute things start looking good for the Daredevils; their skipper has a habit of giving away his wicket. He as usual nicked the outside ball and was caught behind by Parthiv Patel on the score of 15 in 9 balls. David Warner who looked absolutely confused about his own home ground pitch could not contribute much in this match as well. He got out on the score on 13 in 15 balls with 2 boundaries.

Getting Daredevils opener early was like half the battle won for Tuskers who looked in a revengeful mood. Once the skipper was sent back, Naman Ojha, who is still in search of his form, came to bat. As Kotla's pitch is considered to be a good bating track, making use of the first 6 overs with the field restrictions on is very important. Sensing the pressure on Ojha, the Tuskers skipper brought back his lead bowler R P Singh into attack and removed Ojha in the next over itself. The Daredevils were now 3 wickets down for 43 runs. It changed the scenario completely and transformed a good looking start to a disastrous start.

Yogesh Nagar and Venugopal Rao, two players who have shown some character, were now on the crease. The two put a partnership of 54 runs in quick time taking the total to 97 in 14.5 overs. The overall run rate due to regular fall of wickets had come down. With only 5 overs left, both the set batsmen needed to push hard and score quickly. In an effort to do so, Nagar got out on a high rising catch at an individual score of 18.

With Rao hanging around and hitting well, Daredevils still had some hope of posting a competitive total. Birt, the new man, an all rounder, tried to put up a partnership with the settled Rao. Sensing that the partnership may prove fatal, the Tuskers captain brought Parameswaran, who had earlier removed Sehwag, back into attack. The decision proved to be right and he got rid of the dangerous looking Rao at 40 of 36 deliveries. Brit's useful contribution of 27 and couple of handsome hits from Irfan Pathan took the total to 135/6, which looked about 20-30 runs short.

With a required run rate of just over 6, the run chase for the Tuskers was never going to be challenging. McCullum opened the innings with Klinger and gave them a blistering start, trying to hit every ball. The opening bowling attack of the Daredevils looked pretty ordinary with a boundary or a six being hit in every over. McCullum scored 37 runs of just 19 balls hitting 5 fours and 2 sixes and was caught by Umesh Yadav while trying to hit a six. His blazing knock took the team to a total of 61 runs in just 5.1 overs. After McCullum's dismissal, Klinger followed him shortly.

The opening partnership had already done the damage to the Daredevils bowling attack. Worried Sehwag had no clue about how to put breaks on the scoring rate of the Tuskers. Even with two new batsmen in, the runs were flowing easily. Skipper Jayawardane and Parthiv Patel were at the crease. Before the two could add much to the total, Jayawardane got run out.

At this stage the Tuskers required 48 runs off 60 deliveries with seven wickets in hand. The run rate was well under 6.00 per over. Though 3 wickets fell in quick succession but it did not hamper the scoring rate. They were in complete control of the situation. Parthiv Patel, who had been very ordinary in this tournament, made full use of the situation to regain his lost form. He along with Brad Hodge made it look so easy to score on the same pitch where the Daredevils were struggling.

They finished off the things for their team. Both remained unbeaten at individual scores of 37 and 24 respectively. The Tuskers defeated the home team comprehensively with 30 balls to spare and 7 wickets in hand.

Result: Kochi Tuskers won by 7 wickets with 30 balls to spare.

The Awards:

Man of the match:
Prashanth Parameswaran for his fine spell for 2 wickets for 29.

Maximum Sixes:
B. McCullum for hitting 2 sixes.

Kingfisher Fair Play Award
Kochi Tuskers tops the chart & Knight Riders at the bottom.

Orange Cap (The leading run scorer)
Sachin Tendulkar- Mumbai Indians

Purple Cap (The leading wicket taker)
Lasith Mallinga- Mumbai Indians

Question of the day:
Does pitch condition play a big role?



Last Updated on 04 May 2011