(Dare)ing Dilshan take DareDevils home

Last time Delhi’s biggest problem was the inability of the middle order to step up when the top order failed, but this time things have changed for good. Dilshan has been a revelation this season; he is one of the better finisher in the modern era due to his ability to hit the boundaries at will. He has shown that he has in him the temperament to pace the innings. Coming in at the 2nd over he used his experience to nudge around initially building partnerships with AB, and finally some good hitting along with M&M (Mithun Manhas) he made sure DareDevils achieve the desired target without any hiccups.

I might sound like a broken record but RCB’s biggest problem is their opening pair, it doesn’t last more than an over. We now have 5 ducks in 5 games from a combination of openers, Ryder twice, Kumar, Kallis n Uthappa ones. Basically RCB’s no 3 is trying building an innings, while their counterparts are trying to keep up the good work done by their openers. And the biggest problem is that neither Pietersen nor Jennings have a solution to that. Like the famous bollywood movie doctor’s dialogue “Inhe Dawa Ki Dua Ki Jaaroorat Hai” is quite apt for the Challengers.

Today for a change our Dum Slog Millionaire did score some runs along with Taylor. RCBs were 73 at the half way stage, it was a good score considering the bad start they had. Blame it on the tactical break or good bowling, Mishra got Taylor. It came at a bad time for RCBs as they had just lost KP before the break. How many times has this happened that a team doing well till the 10th over suddenly loses a wicket right after the break? These strategy breaks are becoming the talk of the town. The batting teams quickly need to come up with a strategy to counter these strategy breaks. Good hits from Boucher n Kohli took Challengers to a respectable 149. Once again IPL 2.0 has shown that spinners do have a role here and a big one, Mishra’s 1/19 from 4 was instrumental in keeping the pressure.

Chasing at 7.5 an over for DareDevil’s even against depleted RCB wasn't all that easy, especially after losing Sehwag early. Double strike from Pankaj and good tidy bowling by Kumble restricts DD to 64 in 10 overs. As did other slow left armers KP Appana did flight the ball that dipped, turned and knocked AB’s leg stump. “Mandir ka ghanta” Kallis did prove costly again this time; he has been the new Agarkar -- the run daata. 51 runs in 30 balls seems daunting but as Bopara did it other day Dilshan did make it look ridiculously easy. Bowling towards the end has also been Challengers problems, yorkers n slower ones were missing and the length deliveries were deposited on the stands. Clean hitting by Dilshan and M&M (Mithun Manhas) saw Daredevils home with 4 balls to spare.

With Dravid out for couple of games and KP leaving RCBs need some Divine touch if they plan to stay in the hunt.