IPL 2017: DD vs KXIP, Player ratings

Delhi Daredevils, playing their first home game of the season inflicted a truly professional victory over Kings XI Punjab. They broke the trend of fielding first after winning the toss and took the bold decision of batting first.

A lovely half-century by Sam Billings followed by cameos from Corey Anderson and Chris Morris aided them to post a massive total of 188/6 on a sluggish surface. With the ball, every bowler contributed and didn’t allow KXIP batsmen to make a match out of it.

They won the match by 51 runs and got the second victory of the season. Here is the report card of all the players from the match.

Delhi Daredevils

Sanju Samson – 5/10

The centurion from the previous match was promoted up to open the innings after Aditya Tare was dropped from the side. But he couldn’t carry the same form to this game and was out for just 19 runs from 18 balls. He was looking in good touch as he struck two fours and a six but couldn’t convert the good start into a big one.

Sam Billings – 8/10

The opening batsman was getting decent starts so far in the league but wasn’t able to convert into something substantial. But this time around, he carried on and notched up a half-century. He scored 55 off 40 balls that included 9 boundaries. He lost his wicket while looking to up the ante in the 13^th when he was caught on the long-on boundary.

Karun Nair – 2/10

The triple-century man of Indian cricket has been in an awful form this season. Once again, he failed to come good and was out for a duck. His dismissal can be termed unlucky as he tried to flick a delivery down the leg side but a faint nick landed straight into the hands of the keeper Wriddhiman Saha.

Shreyas Iyer – 6/10

Returning from an injury, the right-hander was slotted in the XI straight away but he did not enjoy a merry comeback and managed 22 runs off 17 balls. He was struggling to time the ball and that led to his downfall when he mistimed a lofted shot off Mohit Sharma only to give an easy catch to long-on.

Rishabh Pant – 5/10

The left-hander walked in to bat in the 12^th over at the fall of Iyer and was looking to be aggressive from the outset. He did strike three lusty boundaries but lost his wicket in the bid to up the ante. He made 15 runs off 9 deliveries and fell to Aaron in the 16^th over.

Corey Anderson – 8.5/10

Corey Anderson’s late flurry helped Delhi set an imposing target

The left-hander came to the crease in the 13^th over when the score read 103 and a decent finish was required to boost the total. Initially, he kept quiet due to wickets falling at the other end but opened his hands in the last two overs. He struck two consecutive sixes in the penultimate over and the finished the innings with a six and a four and remained unbeaten at 39 from 22 balls. To back it up, he picked up the crucial wicket of Miller and had figures of 1/23 in 3 overs.

Chris Morris – 8/10

The great show of the Proteas all-rounder continued in this game too. He played a cameo of 16 runs off 8 balls late in the innings that helped the score go past 180. Then, he backed it up 3 wickets and accounted for the dismissals of Amla, Cariappa and Axar by giving away just 23 runs.

Pat Cummins – 7.5/10

The Australian too enjoyed a good outing in the game and played a key role in his team’s victory. With the bat, he played a handy knock of 12 off 6 balls and remained unbeaten. With the ball, he dismissed Morgan and Mohit to end with figures of 2/32.

Amit Mishra – 7/10

The leggie was off the radar in the past couple of months but 3 wickets in the previous match helped him gaining his confidence back. He got the most important wicket of the KXIP line-up in the form of Maxwell courtesy a beautifully flighted delivery. He ended with figures of 1/16 in 3 overs.

Shahbaz Nadeem – 7/10

The slowness of the surface at Kotla was in favour of the left-arm spinner and he made full use of the helpful bowling conditions. He struck in his very first over to send back the opener Vohra and then removed Saha as well – pegging the Punjab side back, a loss from which they never recovered. He only got to bowl just two overs but bagged two wickets for 13 runs.

Zaheer Khan – 6/10

Although the DD skipper did not pick up any wickets and gave away 38 runs in 4 overs, yet his captaincy in the game was superb. He had a good total on the board to defend and his immaculate changes in the bowling attack did not let the Punjab batsmen settle that made the victory easy for his side.

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Kings XI Punjab

The Kings XI Punjab batting line-up crumbled under pressure

Hashim Amla – 5/10

The opening batsman from South Africa started off well when he hit four classy boundaries at the top. He had witnessed two quick wickets falling at the other end and needed to play a steady hand. But he mistimed a full toss off Morris and sent it straight to the hands of the fielder at the deep and perished for 19 off 12.

Manan Vohra – 3/10

The right-hander failed to provide the kind of start needed to chase down the total of 188 and fell after making just 3 runs off 6 balls. In the second over bowled by Nadeem, he missed a straight delivery while attempting a lofted shot to the leg and was struck right in front of the stumps as the umpire signalled him to make the long walk back.

Wriddhiman Saha – 3/10

Just like the last game, the wicket-keeper batsman was slotted in at number 3 but he did not have a good outing. He departed after making just 7 runs when looking for an inside-out shot and only managed to hit it as far as the fielder at cover. He was the second wicket to fall in the innings in just the 4^th over.

Eoin Morgan – 5/10

Playing his first match of the season for KXIP, the Englishman was looking good with his timings. After the 3 quick wickets, the responsibility was on him to bail his side out of trouble. He constructed a partnership of 33 runs for the 4^th wicket with Miller but got out for 22 off 20 balls in the 10^th over. With the kind of form he was looking in, KXIP needed him to play the defining knock.

Glenn Maxwell – 2/10

The skipper walked in when his team was in a spot of bother at 64/4 after 10 overs. He had his partner in crime Miller for company at the crease. The plot was built perfectly for a Maxi-Miller finish but it ended even before the start. Maxwell failed to score a single run and went back in the hunt to launch Mishra for a six but only managed to give a catch to the long-on fielder.

David Miller – 6/10

The left-hander had found form in his previous innings but there was a lot of pressure on him when he came to the crease. KXIP had lost three early wickets and plenty of runs were still required. He tried hard but the scoreboard pressure got to him as he was trapped in front of the wickets by Anderson to end a decent knock of 24 off 28.

Axar Patel – 8/10

Axar turned up with the best performance amongst all the players from the Punjab squad. First, with the ball, he had figures of 1/33 that included the wicket of Billings. Then, he ended up being the leading scorer with the bat as he fought a lone battle till the end and scored 44 off 29 balls and was the last wicket to fall in the innings.

Mohit Sharma – 5/10

Mohit hasn’t had a good run in the league so far and has given away heaps of runs. In this match too, he went for 37 runs in his 4 overs. The only bright spot in his spell arrived when he accounted for the wicket of Shreyas Iyer in the 12^th over that put the brakes on the scoring for a while.

Varun Aaron – 5/10

Aaron’s introduction into the attack in the 5^th over opened the floodgates for DD as he was hit for three fours in a row by Billings. In the 8^th over, he was fortunate to get the wicket of Nair as the batsman was caught down the leg side and then got Pant out too. The fast bowler struggled with his lines and bowled 4 wides and a no-ball and finished with figures of 45/2 and was the costliest bowler for KXIP.

Sandeep Sharma – 5/10

The pacer has been taken for plenty in the last few matches and this one wasn’t too different either. In his first over, he was slapped for two fours by Samson and then a six in his next. At the end, he dismissed Morris but his figures were dented to 1/41.

KC Cariappa – 6/10

Playing his first game of this year’s edition, the mystery spinner had a good beginning. He picked up the all important wicket of Sanju Samson who was starting to look good. On the 5^th ball of his first over, he deceived the batsman in flight and a top edge gave an easy catch to long-off. He ended with figures of 23/1 in three overs.