Delhi send Pune to the bottom in IPL

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Raipur: Delhi Daredevils sent Pune Warriors to the bottom of IPL 2013, with a 15-run win at the brand new Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh international stadium on Sunday.

Chasing 165 for victory, Robin Uthappa and Aaron Finch began in earnest, with a 76-run partnership for the first wicket that lasted 10 overs. Uthappa then tried to clear a delivery from his legs to the long leg fence, only to find the ball in Unmukt Chand’s hands. Good catch. Three balls later, Aaron Finch was unlucky to be given caught behind by umpire C.K Nandan, who felt that the right-hander had nicked the ball to the keeper as it went down the leg side.

It had hit the thigh pad.

Luke Wright and Yuvraj Singh were made to work hard for their runs, and though they managed to clear the fence, the scoring rate was going up. With 37 needed from 18, Umesh Yadav hit where it hurt Pune the most, removing both batsmen as they tried going for their shots. Ashish Nehra and Shahbaz Nadeem then sent down some tight deliveries at the death to see Delhi through.

Earlier, Pune Warriors skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and asked the Delhi Daredevils to bat first. Mahela Jayawardene made it clear that he had issues with the sight screen, leading to a slight delay in proceedings. The Sri Lankan would go on to hit two fours, before hitting a ball straight to Luke Wright off Ashok Dinda. Unmukt Chand and Virender Sehwag put together a 48-run partnership for the second wicket, before the latter was caught by Pune keeper Uthappa, after trying to pull Ashok Dinda.

One ball later, Rahul Sharma removed Unmukt Chand for 17. Ben Rohrer then fell for a run-a-ball 13. Delhi would need something special from David Warner. The Australian didn’t disappoint.

The Daredevils were 97/4 at the end of over No.14, when Warner decided to cut loose. After smashing Kane Richardson for a six, the left-hander went after Dinda, smashing three fours. Bhuvneshwar Kumar hit the brakes for Pune, giving away just six as Delhi went into the final two overs. Warner smashed three sixes en route to a fifty. 21 runs came off the penultimate over.

Kedar Jadhav got the majority of the strike in the final over, and he took eight off Dinda before being caught at long on by Mithun Manhas. Warner gave the strike to Dinda, who finished the first inning with a four. Delhi finished with 164/5, with 63 runs coming off the final five overs.