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New Delhi: An excellent bowling by Nathan Coulter-Nile (4-20) and openers set up Delhi Daredevils win against Kings XI Punjab at Feroz Shah Kotla on Friday.
After opting to field, the hosts did remarkably well to restrict the visitors to a modest 118 for 8, and then knocked off the required runs in fourteen overs.
The win was DD’s fourth in eight matches this season, while KXIP suffered their sixth defeat in eight matches and are now faced with an uphill task of having to win at least five of their remaining six matches for them to progress to the Playoffs.
The hosts struck with the second delivery of the match when Zaheer Khan – playing his first competitive match in close to a year – had Virender Sehwag caught at cover point. Shaun Marsh was trapped LBW by JP Duminy in the second over.
The DD left-arm quick struck again in his second over when he had Manan Vohra edging one to the wicket-keeper. 10 for three became ten for four three balls later when Wriddhiman Saha edged Nathan Coulter-Nile to Kedar Jadhav with the gloves.
There was a brief period of respite for the visitors when skipper George Bailey and David Miller added 27 runs.
Miller and Axar Patel stitched together a partnership that was chiefly responsible in giving their team a respectable total.
For DD, the tone for the innings was set by the returning Zaheer Khan, after which Nathan Coulter-Nile stamped his authority, returning with career-best figures of 4 for 20. Duminy (4-0-15-1) and Amit Mishra (2-0-10-1) were the other wicket-takers. DD’s top wicket-taker in the season – Imran Tahir, couldn’t add to his tally of 13 wickets, and conceded 36 runs in his three overs.
Given the meagre target in front of them, the run-chase was always going to be a formality. And so it turned out to be. Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer (who picked up 19 runs off the second over of the innings bowled by debutant Shardul Thakur.
Brief scores
Kings XI Punjab - 118 for 8 (Miller 42, Coulter-Nile 4-20, Zaheer 2-17)
Delhi Daredevils - 119 for 1 (Iyer 54, Agarwal 52*)
Result - Delhi Daredevils won by 9 wickets
Points - Delhi Daredevils 2, Kings XI Punjab 0
MOM - Nathan Coulter-Nile (Delhi Daredevils)
