New Delhi, Apr 24: Needing 17 off the final over, Shreyas Iyer scored 12 runs off the first five balls but young spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman got the better of him and dismissed the right-hander in the final delivery of the match to stop Daredevils on 139/8.
Iyer top-scored for the hosts with 57 off 45 balls, which included a six and five fours. While Ankit Rajpoot (2/23), Andrew Tye (2/25), Mujeeb (2/25) and Barinder Sran(1/45) were among the wickets for the victors.
Chasing 144-run target, Prithvi Shaw gave Delhi a whirlwind start as he hit three boundaries off Sran and took the score to 24/0 after two overs. But while going for another big shot in the next over, Shaw was castled by Rajpoot. Shaw, in his maiden IPL innings, scored a quick-fire 22 off 10 balls with the help of four boundaries – though few of them came through edges.
Rajpoot then removed big-hitter Glenn Maxwell (12) in his next over to jolt the run chase. Four balls later, Tye bagged the big wicket of Gautam Gambhir, who was struggling to time the ball as the skipper managed to score just 4 off 13 balls.
Daredevils were reduced to 61/4 in 8.1 overs when Rishabh Pant was clean bowled by Mujeeb with his first delivery of the match.
The situation worsen for the hosts as they lost Daniel Christian, run out while going for a second run, in the 12th over. The equation though was a manageable 68 off 48 balls.
Iyer, who successfully overturned a caught behind decision on 26 in the 13th over, kept the scoreboard ticking for Daredevils by hitting odd boundaries. He was well supported by Rahul Tewatia, who scored a valuable 24 off 21 balls with the help of a six and a four. They added 47 runs for the sixth wicket in six overs and took Daredevils to 123/6 after 18 overs. But Sran’s penultimate over in which he took a wicket and gave away just four singles changed the scenario as Delhi fell short by four runs.
After winning the toss, a heavily-rejigged Daredevils side produced a much-improved bowling performance to restrict Kings XI to 143/8. The bottom-placed Daredevils made as many as five changes, including handing out IPL debuts to Liam Plunkett and young Shaw.
Plunkett made full use of the chance as he returned with terrific figures of 3/17 in four overs. While Trent Boult (2/21), Avesh Khan (2/36) and Christian (1/17) were also among the wickets.
KIXP batsmen got the starts but could not go to make big scores, with Karun Nair emerging as the top-scorer with 34 off 32 balls. The rampaging Chris Gayle was forced to sit out the game due to a sore back and his absence was certainly felt by Kings XI.
Daredevils quickly snuffed out the wicket of Aaron Finch through Avesh in the second over. But despite losing an early wicket, Kings XI did well to reach 42 in 4.3 overs when the in-form KL Rahul (23 off 15 balls) was dismissed. Plunkett foxed Rahul with a slower off-cutter, handing Delhi the momentum with the big wicket.
The six powerplay overs yielded 51 runs for the visitors for the loss of two wickets. But KXIP suffered another blow, as Englishman Plunkett uprooted Mayank Agarwal’s stumps after beating him for pace in the eighth over.
The KXIP franchise struggled to accelerate after losing its top three. Veteran Yuvraj Singh looked tentative in his 17-ball 14, and his struggle ended when he under-edged an attempted pull off Avesh to wicketkeeper Pant.
Daredevils gave David Miller, playing in place of Gayle, two reprieves – one by Tewatia at cover and the second one a sitter at point by Shaw. The batsman made use of the life to hoick Amit Mishra for a six over long-on.
Plunkett then sent back Nair and for addition of 11 runs, Christian dismissed Miller for a 19-ball 26 to leave KXIP struggling at 127 /6 in the 18th over.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
