Daredevils win opening encounter

In the first two games of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL), the sides batting first had gone on to post a big total and then eventually win the match. In Game 3 of the Twenty20 Championship, the intention of the Rajasthan Royals team seemed good when they followed suit and decided to bat first after winning the toss against the Delhi Daredevils. However, things did not seem to go as per plan.

A brilliant first over by old boy Glenn McGrath was followed up by some good tight spells by the rest of the Daredevils bowlers. The Royals’ batsmen couldn’t string together partnerships as they displayed lack of communication and were unable to consistently pick the line and length of the ball. The first five overs yielded only 37 runs and the next five went for only 20 runs. At the half-way mark, the score was 57 for 4.

For the Royals, Ravindra Jadeja top scored with 29 off 23 balls. The knock included a towering straight six off Daniel Vettori’s very first ball in the IPL. The left hander hit another six over long on off the same bowler before the Kiwi had the last laugh, bowling out Jadeja himself.

Shane Watson (21) got a start but he could not convert it into a big score, running himself out in search of a second run. Lower order batsman Dinesh Salunkhe played some cheeky shots and struck some lusty blows, remaining not out on 26. Captain Shane Warne produced a more than a run-a-ball 14 before dragging a Maharoof delivery on to the pads which then rolled on to the stumps. In the end, the Royals managed a decent 129 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs.

Chasing 130 for victory, Virender Sehwag played a characteristic innings by blasting the first three balls for four and later playing a good length delivery on to the stumps. Sehwag may have been out early but Gautam Gambhir (58) and Shikhar Dhawan (52) ensured that the crowd was not disappointed. The duo put on 112 runs off 81 balls with Gambhir stroking seven boundaries and a six. Dhawan scored 32 of his runs through hits to the fence. Their breath taking stroke play interwoven with intelligent running between the wickets ensured that the Daredevils had the target in sight and never went off course.

Shane Warne, who introduced himself in the ninth over, did not remind us of his old magic as he went wicket-less from his 2.1 overs, conceding 16 runs. The Delhi batsmen played him smartly by just nudging him around and playing their shots off the bad balls.

Watson was the only successful bowler claiming Sehwag's wicket but conceding 31 from his quota of four overs.

Daredevils’ Maharoof was declared the player of the match for his wonderful spell of 4-0-11-2.