Corey Anderson, the New Zealand all-rounder orchestrated the turning point of the day with a blitzkrieg that put Delhi Daredevils’ total out of the reach of KXIP on a sluggish track at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. The New Zealand southpaw once held the record for the fastest ODI century, scored in just 36 balls (broken by AB de Villiers who scored it in 31 balls).
A twist in the middle order
Anderson walked to the crease with Delhi under the pump at 103 for 4 in the 13th over. After a good partnership of 41 runs between Shreyas Iyer (22) and Sam Billings (55), the Daredevils seemed to be at a risk of losing their way in the middle of their innings, with two new batsmen at the crease. Rishabh Pant followed suit as well after a cameo that included three fours. The Daredevils found themselves at 120 for 5 in 15.1 overs as KXIP were pulling things back nicely.
Scratchy in the beginning
Anderson was dropped in the 15th over on whilst he was still on 2 but he had trouble getting a move on looking very scratchy. By the end of the 17th over, though, Anderson had managed just 8 off his 12 deliveries. Luckily for him, Chris Morris was getting a move on, thanks to a lollipop of a slower delivery bowled by Mohit Sharma in the 17th over as a free hit.
The Daredevils moved on to 144 for 5 in 17 overs. That is when Anderson started finding form hitting a four off Sandeep Sharma to point. After Morris’ departure, Anderson’s luck began to turn around as he found some timing.
The big overs
Anderson, who was quiet until the 18th over, smashed two massive sixes off Axar Patel’s bowling, in the last two balls of his spell to move on to 29 off 20 balls taking Delhi to 169 for 6 in 19 overs. Axar Patel had given away just four runs off the first four deliveries of his final over in the 19th. That is when the carnage started. The fifth ball of Axar Patel’s over was swept over the long on.
The next six was brutal and was all power. It was a wider delivery that Anderson flat-batted over long on. It didn’t come off the middle but still had enough to carry it over a leaping Glenn Maxwell, to ruin Axar’s figures.
Sandeep Sharma, who was economical until then was bowling the 20th over. After his first two balls were hit for fours by Pat Cummins, it was Anderson who ended the Delhi innings on a high, smashing a four down the ground off a low full-toss and then pulling a slower bouncer to midwicket to take Delhi to 188 for 6.
Anderson finished on 39 off 22 balls after that 19-run over. That pushed the score from the realms of possibility to definite impossibility on a track that was not easy to bat on or time the ball. Daredevils scored 35 off the last two overs, and 31 off the last 8 balls. That was too many runs towards the end of the innings, something KXIP could ill-afford on a ground that was Delhi’s fortress.
That blitzkrieg by the Kiwi all-rounder was definitely the final nail in the KXIP coffin, as they could manage only 137, losing by a massive margin of 51 runs. Anderson, who had come in the place of Brathwaite had scored just 2 off 4 balls in Delhi’s previous win against Pune but showed his worth with bat and ball in this spectacular win.
With the ball
Anderson, who won the Player of the Match capped off an all-round performance with a bowling spell of 3-0-23-1, contributing with bat and ball.
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