Delhi's ninth win
Delhi Daredevils breezed past Rajasthan Royals as they won by 14 runs in their IPL encounter at the OUTsurance Oval in Bloemfontein last night.
Batting first in chilly conditions, Delhi banked on AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan to post 150 for three from their 20 overs, and went on to restrict Royals for 136-9 in 20 overs.
de Villiers struck eight boundaries and a six in a brilliant 55-ball unbeaten 79. He was well supported by Dilshan, who made 33 off 41 as they added 87 for the third wicket. Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik then added an 11-ball 23. Karthik and de Villiers added 48 for the fourth wicket.
Out of the three wickets that fell, Munaf Patel took two and offspinner Johan Botha had one. Patel was the best bowler on show for the Royals, also taking a stunning return catch to get rid of Gautam Gambhir who continued his ordinary run with the bat scoring just eight.
Royals were always struggling in the face of Delhi's four-pronged pace attack. Openers Rob Quiney (6) and Graeme Smith (0) both holed out to the third-man fence before Naman Ojha scratched around for his nine.
Ojha's departure saw Botha and Ravinder Jadeja add 45 for the fourth wicket but that didn't add impetus to the innings as both departed soon after.
The Royals almost gave up when their trump card Yusuf Pathan was out for one when he edged a Farveez Maharoof delivery.
Ashish Nehra, Dirk Nannes, Maharoof and Avishkar Salvi took advantage of the cold conditions while leggie Amit Mishra picked up three easy wickets when the run-rate reached twelve an over.
Patel smashed three boundaries in the final over from Nannes but it was too little too late for the defending champions.
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