Better late than never! The Daredevils hosted the Royals in their home opener in Delhi on April 12th. After a disappointing first match, the Daredevils were looking for a solid performance at home to get their first win of the IPL 8 campaign. Unfortunately, they suffered another close defeat marking their 11th straight loss dating back to last season.
Daredevils batted first and got to a good start before Agarwal was bowled and caught by Tambe midway through the fourth over with Delhi sitting on 45. Sheryas Iyer was the next Daredevil to succumb to the Royals bowling when he was dismissed after 10.6 overs having scored 40 runs off 30 balls. With many questioning the Daredevil’s lineup last week which featured Yuvraj Singh and JP Duminy at 6 and 7, they elected to go with a much more favorable attack against the Royals with the Indian and South African international batting 3rd and 4th. Duminy scored 44 off 38 balls not out, while Singh was bowled out after 27 runs. Angelo Mathews, who had to sit last week during the match in Chennai, stepped to the crease and scored an additional 27 runs not out. The Daredevils reached 184 runs in 20 overs, a far superior batting performance to last week.
The Royals had the daunting task of chasing 185 runs to win away from home and yet they managed to do just that. Another solid performance by Imran Tahir who dismissed four batsmen in his four overs was overshadowed by the resilience of Rajasthan. Needing eight from the final three balls, the Royals hit a four followed by a single. On the final ball of the evening, Tim Southee smashed a match-winning four to give the Royals a huge victory away in Delhi.
It is massively disappointing for the Daredevils who certainly expected to win after putting up 184 runs, but it was an improved performance from their first game against Chennai. The batting order made much more sense and the results confirmed that. Imran Tahir is playing some outstanding cricket right now as well. They’ll be desperate to break this losing streak. Expect the Daredevils to put on a solid performance and get their first win of the season when their bowling and batting finally synch up in Pune tomorrow when they take on the Kings XI.
From Hyderabad to Hove 