Not enough for Delhi

Well the scorecard of yesterday's game between the Delhi Daredevils and the Kings XI Punjab would have made the fans of the Delhi Daredevils team jump in joy. But, before anyone does that, one has to think the way the Delhi team won the match despite scoring such a huge total. One has to I guess remind the Delhi captain-Virender Sehwag the way the Kings XI Punjab successfully chased down 166 against Deccan Chargers and 189 against the Chennai Super Kings. Of course, even the Delhi Daredevils had a run when they chased down 187 against Pune Warriors at Mumbai.

Compared to the score of 180 at 9.0 runs an over the score of 231 stands way apart. But, hen the other team namely the Kings XI Punjab also fell not too far behind with them ending their innings with 202 runs on the board. Had the Delhi team been that strong, then the opposition should have been all out or restricted for somewhere close to 180 giving the Delhi team a victory margin of 51 runs. There is no doubt in the way the Delhi batsmen put pressure on the Punjabi bowlers with them bringing in 7 bowlers to stop Sehwag and Warner from scoring.

The highlight of the game was that every bowler who took to the crease gave away runs at a minimum of 8.0 runs an over. Only two of those bowlers could control and keep the scoring rate to less than 9.0 runs an over which indicates the pitch's batsman friendliness needless to be said. However, the Delhi team saw only 6 bowlers taking it to the crease. But, that decision rewarded the Delhi team for, they eventually won the game needless to be said by a 29 run margin. If the extras on both sides are removed, then the margin of victory reduces to 18 runs.

The Punjab bowlers bowled 14 wides compared to the three by the Delhi Daredevils. However, the million dollar doubt would be that the man of the match was awarded to Warner when there was Virender Sehwag and Shaun Marsh, both of whom shone with the bat. If the winning team concept needs to be considered, then Sehwag scored an equal number of runs compared to Warner but took less number of deliveries, hit more number of boundaries and equal number of sixes with both of them opening the innings for Delhi. Added to that Sehwag captained the side and took three catches on the field.