Cricket

Shoaib wrecks Delhi in his IPL debut, Knight Riders kick ass

The Delhi Daredevils started off in a very good manner by restricting the Knight Riders to just 133 - the lowest IPL total. Yo Mahesh and Maharoof took 2 wickets and were supported by Sangwan who took 1 wicket. Not only did they do a brilliant job by taking wickets, but also their bowling was controlled and did not let the Knight Riders test fire.

However, the Daredevils looking to come back into the series made one mistake - they did not prepare themselves for the Rawalpindi express. Shoaib played his debut match today - and what a match he played. When Shoaib was bowling, wickets were falling like a deck of cards. First to go was Sehway in the first ball he played, next was AB de Villers, then Gambhir and finally Tiwari. If he were made to continue bowling, the Daredevils would be abckhome sooner. Shoaib finished with fantastic figures of 11 runs in 3 overs for 4 wickets.

And then Shukla was born. In his first over of the IPL (18th of the match), he would either be a hero or a villain. Shukla chose to be the former and took the wickets of Mishra, Mahesh and Sangwan (he will surely remember his first IPL over as MMS). Not to forget the superb runout of Dilshan that Shukla implemented.

The Knight Riders bowled superbly and their fielding was spot-on. It was hard to believe that their direct throws were coming one after the other. This not only saved runs, but maintained pressure and caused the 2 runouts of Dilshan and Maharoof.

Daredevils were bowled out for 110. It was Delhi’s fifth loss in nine matches and it was Kolkota’s fifth win in nine matches.

Shoaib was Man of the Match as he single handedly ensured victory for SRK’s team. And yes, Shahrukh Khan was there supporting his team and dancing all the way.

M o r e N e w s
- Sri Lanka achieve mammoth total
- Champions Trophy stays in Pakistan, thanks to BCCI
- Hamilton in Mumbai
- Lee-Hesh to face off in Toronto
- Nothing in the pitch: Ishant
- Jayawardene ton piles on the pressure
- Sri Lanka build on day two
- Sania out in second round..again
- Mithun into football now
- Bhupathi and partner Knowles in quarters



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