Delhi Daredevils beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets

Published>Tue, Mar 16 10 10:53 AM

Ahemdabad, March 15 -- Riding on V Sehwag's 75, Delhi Daredevils beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets to continue their winning spree. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala's unbeaten 53 saved Rajasthan Royals the blushes as the 2008 champions fumbled and faltered their way to 141 for six against Delhi Daredevils in their second Indian Premier League match here today. Put into bat, Rajasthan Royals looked in a mess before Jhunjhunwala's 60-run stand with Paras Dogra (29) sort of steadied the ship. Jhunjhunwala's unbeaten 53 came off 45 balls with five fours and a six in it but the Royals could never break free as most of the Daredevils bowlers maintained a stifling line and length. The Rajasthan Royals began with Swapnil Asnodkar (5) putting away the first ball of the innings for a delectable four before his opening partner Graeme Smith (18) hit Farveez Maharoof for two boundaries in that high-yielding over. Dirk Nannes, however, had other ideas and his very second delivery saw Asnodkar's back with an agile Tillakaratne Dilshan taking a smart, low catch at backward point. Next man in Nama Ojha (24) took the Daredevils attack by the scruff of its neck before his unbridled aggression brought his peril. The stumper-batsman hit Maharoof for two fours in the third over before Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir pressed leggie Amit Mishra in service. Ojha gently patted back the first Mishra delivery before going berserk, hitting back-to-back boundaries and then following it with a clean hit that cleared the long on ropes. Mishra settled the score with the next delivery as a clueless Ojha lost his stumps to a perfectly disguised googly. Despite Maharoof going for runs, Gambhir persisted with the lanky Sri Lankan, who responded by removing the dangerous Yusuf Pathan for a duck, an anti-climactic innings by the towering swashbuckler whose 37-ball 100 against Mumbai Indians was the first century of this year's IPL. Pathan, foxed by Maharoof's slower delivery, went for a swish and AB de Villiers took a well-judged catch in the deep. Four runs later, Smith was on his way back to the pavilion when a fumbling Virender Sehwag pouched his mistimed pull off Pradeep Sangwan in his third attempt. Smith's dismissal meant the first 50 runs cost the Royals four top order batsmen in just over eight overs. Jhunjhunwala and Dogra stemmed the rot, playing conventional cricket even though it meant nearly six overs without a boundary. They had just started to open up when an almighty mix-up with Jhunjhunwala ended Dogra's stay, ending their 60-run stand in just over eight overs and the Royals did not get the later burst that could have taken them past the 150-mark. Rajasthan Royals team G Smith, N Ojha, Y Pathan, S Asnodkar, P Dogra, D Mascarenhas, A Jhunjhunwala, S Warne, S Tait, A Uniyal, M Patel. Delhi Daredevils team

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