Tight bowling puts Delhi back on top

Delhi Daredevils didn't quite pull off the cakewalk expected after their bowlers set the batsmen a target of 117, but the end result was satisfactory because they took back the top spot. Chasing an easily achievable total Delhi's openers ate up overs and departed in succession to put undue pressure on the middle order, but AB de Villiers returned to form and saw Delhi through in the end.

Mumbai Indians needed a win desperately to mark a step towards a much-needed turnaround, but they utterly failed to cash in on the toss. Both openers were dismissed in the first over, two more fell before the end of the Powerplay, and there was no final hurrah. Dwayne Bravo and Abhishek Nayar stitched together a 57-run partnership but that too was snuffed out by Delhi's bowlers before it could really cause damage.

This was a win set up in the field, when Delhi were excellent with pace and spin, allowing just seven boundaries and three sixes. For the 22nd time in 21 days, a wicket fell in the first over of an innings. Luke Ronchi, in for Sanath Jayasuriya, was run out second ball and JP Duminy nicked Dirk Nannes behind.

Mumbai were hurting with the scoreboard showing four batsmen with 0 next to their names. Sachin Tendulkar, who had opted to bat, didn't last long either. Having inside-edged a length ball behind the stumps, Tendulkar set off, only to be set back by Pinal Shah. He failed to just ground his bat as Dinesh Karthik nailed the second damning direct hit in six overs. Mumbai were 30 for 3 after the Powerplay.

It got worse. Shah failed to cash in on a drop on 5, swinging Rajat Bhatia to the deep for a chalky 11 from 20 balls. In walked Bravo at 33 for 4. He looked gone for all money on 1, struck on the front pad in front of middle and leg, but the umpire Marais Erasmus was watching a different match. Amit Mishra cut a flustered figure.

There were just two boundaries littering the first ten overs, aptly displaying just how tight Delhi kept it. With singles and doubles and inside edges Bravo and Nayar gave the total some respectability. But just when it seemed Bravo might turn it on - he lofted two big sixes down the ground - Nannes got his man with a wide delivery. Nayar departed next ball, top-edging Ashish Nehra, and there was little oomph from the tail. Bhatia, notable for his clever slower balls, took two wickets and allowed only a single and a leg bye in the last over. It was eerily similar to how Delhi had started 19 overs earlier.

Delhi's chase toward a small target was nervy, with Gautam Gambhir and David Warner pacing themselves. It wasn't a crawl, but neither was the pair forcing the issue. There were only two fours and a six in the 50 balls Gambhir and Warner batted together. Duminy snapped a steady partnership of 42 with a gentle offbreak, luring Warner out of his crease. In the next over Gambhir sashayed out and sliced the ball to deep cover. But that was as good as it got for Mumbai, as de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan eased into a 61-run stand.

It began slowly, with both batsmen struggling to get runs off the spinners. Duminy and Harbhajan Singh rushed through their overs, one relying on flight and the other firing them flat. Duminy only gave 15 from his four overs and Harbhajan was also frugal, but one over of pedestrian spin from Tendulkar got Delhi - at this stage needing 43 from 30 - back ahead of the rate. A floater was sumptuously clipped for four, a full toss was dumped over midwicket for six, and two half-trackers were duly deposited for boundaries. In six balls de Villiers doubled his score. Defending a small total, a 19-run over was not what Mumbai needed from their leader.

Dilshan fell with ten needed, but de Villiers brought up his fifty and ensured victory was sealed with seven balls to go.

Gambhir back in form with fifty

It's getting hard to keep track of who's on top of the IPL table. For the third day in a row, there was a new leader, now with the Delhi Daredevils occupying first place after strolling past a luckless Kolkata Knight Riders in Durban. To make victory even sweeter, one of their key batsmen, Gautam Gambhir, was back among the runs after an indifferent start to the tournament.

After Morne van Wyk made the most of his chance at the top of the order to push Kolkata towards a middling total, they fielded like millionaires, granting the Delhi batsmen innumerable chances to simplify the chase.

Gambhir, in particular, was virtually coaxed back to form. He was grassed a couple of times, that too by two of the better fielders in the side, on 22 by Brendon McCullum and on 65 by Moises Henriques, a run-out opportunity was wasted on 35, and he was given plenty of free runs as well. Even the umpire gave him a let-off by not picking a nick to the wicketkeeper when on 45.

An early exchange with Ishant Sharma showed how Delhi were helped along to victory. The first over had Ishant exchanging wry grins with his Ranji team-mate Gambhir after tying him down to an outside-edged four. The smiles were gone after some woeful fielding in his next over: Ashok Dinda made a mess at fine-leg, Sourav Ganguly gave away a couple of extra runs after a less-than-athletic effort at mid-off the next ball, and another Dinda fumble allowed the batsmen to return for two. Ishant lost his cool, and his line in the next delivery, presenting Gambhir a leg-side gift, which was glanced for four. Seventeen came off the over, and Delhi proved hard to rein in after that.

David Warner again showed his ability to clear the boundary, a Hayden-esque down-the-pitch pull off Dinda was the stand-out stroke in his blazing cameo. A couple of lofted drives for four off consecutive deliveries emphasised his ominous form but Ajit Agarkar beat Warner for pace two balls later, and had him holing out to Moises Henriques.

There was little relief for Kolkata, though, as Tillakaratne Dilshan demonstrated his form with a couple of cracking cover drives off Agarkar. Gambhir and Dilshan settled on a recipe of risk-free singles with a sprinkling of boundaries to keep Delhi on course. The missed chances already had the Kolkata camp frustrated, and the sight of several boundaries just beating a diving fielder added to their woes. It was only towards the end that the batsmen opened out, to finish the job with an over to spare.

Such a one-sided game didn't seem on the cards after van Wyk glued the fragile Kolkata top order to take them near 150. Their opening troubles seemed set to continue when McCullum struggled to get bat on ball in the first over. But in the first delivery of the third over, McCullum's bolt-down-the-track scythe finally connected and sent the ball rocketing over deep point. A controlled on-drive for four followed next delivery, and a swat sailed past the midwicket boundary three balls later fetched 21 runs off the over.

Top Curve
Prime Numbers

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6.68
The economy rate of Amit Mishra, the best by a Delhi bowler this season
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58
The best opening partnership for Kolkata this season
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49
The number of runs given away by Dirk Nannes, making it the worst in terms of economy rate by a Delhi bowler
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5
The number of half-centurions in the Delhi team, Gautam Gambhir being the latest addition
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8
The number of boundary hits by Brendon McCullum in the tournament

Bottom Curve

By the time McCullum clobbered Pradeep Sangwan over midwicket for a flat six, Kolkata were 48 for 0 after five overs, and the two batsmen were sharing a joke in the middle, not a common sight in Kolkata's campaign so far.

It was Sangwan who was laughing a couple of overs later, when he had McCullum slapping the ball straight to fine leg. The in-form Brad Hodge joined van Wyk, but Sangwan and Mishra kept the brakes on. Kolkata could only score in singles for the first five overs after the Powerplays, and the run-rate had flatlined to 6.45.

It was an uncharacteristic fielding error at long-on from AB de Villiers that helped release the pressure for Kolkata. The next delivery was cut away for four more by van Wyk, who caressed three more boundaries in the over that followed from Sangwan. Right through the innings, van Wyk showed his ability to finesse his way to the runs, rarely attempting one of the most favoured strokes in Twenty20: the mow over midwicket.

Just as the runs started to flow, Hodge was dismissed, slowing Kolkata down again. They were at 111 for 2 after 16, when Henriques and van Wyk opened out to lash 28 off the next two. Kolkata needed a couple more like that to finish off, but Nannes and the outstanding Ashish Nehra kept it full and straight to not let them get into fifth gear.

Kolkata finished with a total that was disappointing, with wickets still in hand, but it was nowhere as disheartening as the shoddiness in the field that was to follow.