Delhi runs Riot!

What else did you expect? It was Delhi running riot when the side met the tattered team of Bangalore! Bangalore had no clue how to win the match! The blistering batting by Virender Sehwag (47) led to his 90-runs partnership with Gautam Gambhir (39). This amazing batting effort helped Delhi survive a middle order collapse. Finally Delhi crushed the Bangalore side with a 5-wicket win on Monday.

Chasing 155 for a crucial victory, Delhi had a modest target in front of it. The batting by Sehwag and Gambhir led the team to 158 for five with 10 balls to spare. Delhi notched up their sixth win from 12 matches that has surely brightened the chances of this team reaching the semi finals.

Earlier Bangalore put to bat first, could not do anything better than accumulating the modest target of 154 for 7. On Bangalore’s side the worries are not coming to an end. The batting order again failed.

J. Kallis tried to do wonders with bat this time, but was not much successful. He was out at a ball by Maharoof at 25, thus he lost another chance to prove himself. B. Chipli was also not able to cling to the pitch as he was out when Bhatia took his catch off McGrath at poor score of 2.

The debut by S. Goswami proved helpful to captain Dravid. His 52 runs were crucial in making the target of 154. He was out after some massive hits when Dilshan took his catch off Maharoof.

R. Dravid himself has failed so far to set an example for his team, this time as well he was out at an excellent delivery by Dilshan at 9 runs. Another good spell came from Misbah’s bat who went not out at 47. White was run out at 1 followed by Akhil who was also run out at 3. P. Kumar was gone at 2 off McGrath. Zaheer went not out at 4. With 9 extras the total for 7 wkts in 20 overs was 154.

When Delhi came for batting it was all done by the duo of Sehwag and Gambhir, who faced only 41 balls for their 90-run stand. Both batted reluctantly at start but later began raining fours and sixes. Bowlers like Steyn and Zaheer Khan were canned so mercilessly by both the strikers.

This magnificent partnership came to an end with a brilliant catch by Bharat Chipli in the seventh over. This catch sent Sehwag back at 47. This catch came after he hit Praveen Kumar for three fours and a six in that over.

This powered 90-run partnership in seven overs had already done the major harm to Bangalore team. Picking up the early wickets could, no doubt save the home team from more embarrassment.

The innings then stumbled when Gambhir was run out at 39. Soon Anil Kumble was successful in getting the wicket of Dilshan when he was at 4. A.B. de Villiers was out at ball by Steyn at 21.

Kartik was out at ball by Kumble at 6 runs. Shikhar Dhawan made 16 not out. All these contributions led Delhi to victory. Maharoof added 13 runs and was not out. Thus with the help of 12 extras Delhi made 158 for five in 18.2 overs.

This way Delhi moved forward towards the semifinals and Bangalore still remains in despair at the bottom of the points table!