Daredevils Feast on Chennai's Death Bowling

Daredevils Feast on Chennai's Death Bowling

If there were such a thing as a ‘closing combination’ in T20 cricket, then JP Duminy and Kedar Jadhav may be the best there is in IPL-7. For the second match in row, some lusty hitting from the duo saw Delhi Daredevils recover to a competitive score after a middle-order collapse, against the Chennai Super Kings at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Monday.

When Murali Vijay departed in Ravindra Jadeja’s 15th over, Delhi were 119/5 and going nowhere soon. However Duminy and Jadhav had other ideas as they feasted on Chennai’s death bowling to power their side to a respectable 178/5.

Earlier Dhoni who won the toss sent the Daredevils to bat, hoping to take advantage of the pitch which was still damp following afternoon showers. De Kock though had other plans, racing to a quick 24 off just 16 balls. But that was as good as it got for him as a terrible mix-up sent him back to the stands. The South African set off for a third run after Murali Vijay had hit Mohit Sharma behind point. His partner though wasn’t interested and De Kock could only look on from the middle of the pitch as Sharma disturbed the stumps at the bowler’s end.

It was about to get a lot worse for Daredevils a couple of balls later. Skipper Kevin Pietersen, who has had a dismal IPL so far, played down the wrong line to a harmless looking Sharma delivery which skidded through and flattened his off-stump.

Dinesh Karthik, who replaced Pietersen, plunged straight into the rescue effort with state-mate Murali Vijay. Karthik played some innovative shots in his 51, including a scooped six off Ben Hilfenhaus that reminded one of some of AB de Villiers’ efforts the other day, while Vijay proved the ideal foil for his partner, rotating the strike and ensuring that the scoreboard kept ticking.

But all the good work looked to be undone when the middle-over demon came to haunt the Daredevils again. Karthik, Lakshmi Ratan Shukla and Vijay all departed in the space of nine balls, as the spinners looked to have done the trick for Chennai. Duminy and Jadhav though ensured that there was a sting left in the tail.

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