Irfan Pathan emerged as the victorious brother of the two as his Delhi Daredevils squad won their first match in this year’s IPL. His solid 42-run innings, accompanied by Aaron Finch’s contribution of 30 runs ensured they reached the target of 98 runs in a match which was cut short to 12 over-a-side due to rain.
Kolkata had posted 97 runs with the help of Lakshmi Ratan Shukla’s quick-fire 26 in 17 balls along with contributions from Debabrata Das (18) and Gautam Gambhir (16) and were largely restricted due to the bowling of Morne Morkel who finished with figures of 3/18.Yadav celebrates the wicket of Yusuf Pathan. AP.
Delhi managed to reach their target in 11.1 overs and Irfan Pathan was surely the star of the night with a brilliant knock of 42 runs in just 20 balls, which consisted of two fours and three sixes.
It was not all that easy for the Daredevils as Jacques Kallis and Rajat Bhatia managed to send back Aaron Finch and Virender Sehwag respectively to the pavilion, but both the batsmen had already given them a good start- adding 49 runs in 38 balls.
The decision to field first looked spot on and Kolkata lost wickets at regular intervals and it could be attributed to the fact that they had only 12 overs to make as many runs as possible.
They did not get the start they wanted, losing big-hitter Yusuf Pathan early on, followed by Manoj Tiwary, Jacques Kallis and Brendon McCullum in quick succession.
While Sehwag admitted that it was easier to chase a shorter game, his counterpart Gambhir added that it also made it more exciting to play compared to a normal Twenty20 match.
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