 | | The hosts became the first side to assure themselves a chance at the title but it was not a cake-walk despite a paltry target of 137. Punjab will have themselves......... |
The hosts became the first side to assure themselves a chance at the title but it was not a cake-walk despite a paltry target of 137.Delhi had lost both David Warner and Virender Sehwag inside the first four overs. Another two fell in the next five with the rate of scoring at just over six, and dipping drastically. In came Naman Ojha and the wicket-keeper showed solid resilience to drain a torrid pace battery comprising Parvinder Awana and Praveen Kumar. Ojha took 34 off 29 before falling to the spin of Piyush Chawla. Mahela Jayawardena who had come in before Ojha, took the onus upon himself and went onto complete his fifty as Delhi sealed the match with an entire over to spare. Punjab will have themselves to blame for most parts as the batsmen failed to get partnerships going after having won the toss. Skipper David Hussey failed to get the right start from his openers. Mandeep Singh and Shaun Marsh assumed aggressive stances but the two could only add 24 for the opening wicket. Varun Aaron was the main culprit for the crack at the top as he dismissed Marsh (13 off 15) and returned to get rid of Mandeep (21 off 12). Hussey provided some stability in the middle with an unbeaten 40. He however failed to get much support as the likes of David Miller (4) and Azhar Mahmood (9) departed without troubling the hosts. For Delhi, Umesh Yadav surpassed Aaron to claim three wickets and return back with a decent economy of 5.25 in his four. (courtesy sports.ndtv.com) |