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Daredevils beats Royals, stays on top

Bloemfontein: A disciplined bowling attack backed A.B. de Villiers unbeaten half-century as Delhi Daredevils defeated Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs to consolidate its position at the top of table in the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.

Electing to bat, Delhi rattled up a challenging 150 for three, largely due to de Villiers’ unbeaten 55-ball 79 and then restricted Rajasthan to 136 for nine to notch up its ninth win from 12 matches.

Mishra impresses

Amit Mishra returned figures of three for 33 from his four overs, while Avishkar Salvi and Farveez Maharoof chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Delhi, which has already made it to the semifinals, is sitting pretty at the top of the table with 18 points in its kitty, while Rajasthan, with 13 points from as many matches, is in the fifth spot.

Rajasthan will have to win its last match against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 20 and wait for the results of other matches to see whether it makes it to the semifinals or not.

With his side having qualified for the knock-out stage without himself not contributing much with the bat, Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag now wants to get some runs ahead of the semifinals.

“We did not get to a good start as I and Gautam (Gambhir) got out early. But de Villiers and Dilshan batted really well to take us to 150,” Sehwag said after his side’s win.

“I hope I will get runs in next couple matches that we have to play before the semifinal. And if Gautam and I manage to find our form, that will be bonus for our team,” he said.

Sehwag also patted his bowlers who produced a clinical performance.Rajasthan captain Sahne Warne rued his side could not get off to a good start in its run chase.

“We did not hold a few catches and probably chased 15 runs more. But I thought if we got to a good start we would chase down 150. We did not do that and that has been happening all through the tournament,” Warne said.

He defended his pacer Munaf Patel, who gave away 25 runs in the penultimate over, saying

“Munaf bowled fantastic in the match against Mumbai. This can happen in Twenty20 cricket, it’s part and parcel of the game.” — PTI

SCOREBOARD/p>

Delhi Daredevils: G. Gambhir c & b Munaf 8 (8b 1x4), V. Sehwag lbw b Munaf 2 (8b), A.B. de Villiers (not out) 79 (55b, 8x4, 1x6), T. Dilshan b Botha 33 (41b, 1x4), D. Karthik (not out) 23 (11b, 1x4, 1x6), Extras (lb-1, w-1, nb-3): 5; Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 150.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-15, 3-102.

Rajasthan Royals bowling: Munaf 4-0-39-2, Amit Singh 3-0-23-0, Trivedi 1-0-9-0, Botha 4-0-23-1, Warne 4-0-28-0, Jadeja 2-0-13-0, Raut 1-0-10-0, Y. Pathan 1-0-4-0.

Rajasthan Royals: R. Quiney c Nannes b Nehra 6 (10b, 1x4), G. Smith c Salvi b Nannes 0 (4b), N. Ojha c Sehwag b Salvi 9 (17b, 1x4), J. Botha c Sehwag b Maharoof 37 (37b, 3x4), R. Jadeja c Karthik b Salvi 24 (18b 3x4), Y. Pathan c Karthik b Maharoof 1 (5b), A. Raut b Mishra 11 (13b), S. Warne st. Karthik b Mishra 6 (3b, 1x6), Amit Singh st. Karthik b Mishra 0 (1b), S. Trivedi (not out) 6 (10b), Munaf (not out) 23 (10b 5 x 4), Extras (lb-6, w-5, nb-2): 13; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 136.