Delhi Daredevils lay down play-off gauntlet

Dharamsala: Fast bowlers Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav shared seven wickets as Delhi Daredevils geared up for the play-offs with a resounding six-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League yesterday.

Morkel grabbed 4-20 and Yadav took 3-19 as Punjab was restricted to 141-8 after being put in to bat on a lively track at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.

Delhi scored 145-4 in 18.2 overs with opener David Warner slamming a 44-ball 79 with four sixes and ten fours. The task was made easy for Delhi as Warner started aggressively, hitting a six off the first delivery he faced from Praveen Kumar and later smashing the other seamer, Parvinder Awana, for 23 runs off a single over, including three sixes.

Warner was crucially dropped by Gurkeerat Singh at the square-leg boundary off the last ball of that over from Awana, when on 46, and continued to unleash a barrage of boundaries.

"It was a good end to the league stage for us," said Delhi captain Mahela Jayawardene, leading the side in place of Virender Sehwag.

"We will start all over again in the play-offs but will look to take the confidence ahead."

Earlier, Morkel and Yadav ripped through the Punjab batting and the home side was reduced to 20-4 in the sixth over before fighting back.

Yadav removed openers Adam Gilchrist and Mandeep Singh while also getting rid of David Hussey. Morkel removed Paul Valthaty in his opening spell and then came back to dismiss well-set batsmen Azhar Mahmoud and Gurkeerat Singh in his second spell.

The total was lent some respectability as No 5 batsman Siddharth Chitnis chipped in with a 36-ball 38 and then Pakistan all-rounder Mahmoud (36) and Gurkeerat Singh (26) added 45 runs for the sixth wicket.

Top-ranked team

Delhi, who were the first team to book a passage to the knock-out stage, ensured they would remain the top ranked team as they finished with 11 wins and five losses in the league stage of the competition.

Punjab, who needed to win to stay in contention, finished with eight victories and eight defeats.

This result also means Mumbai Indians are now through along with Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Two-time defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore remain in contention for the fourth and final place in the play-offs.

Brief Scores: Kings XI Punjab 141/8 off 20 overs (S.Chitnis 38; M.Morkel 4-20, U.Yadav 3-19) vs Delhi Daredevils 145-4 off 18.2 overs (D.Warner 79; R.Harris 2-19, A.Mahmoud 2-23). Delhi Dardevils won by five wickets.