| Scores | Upcoming | Results |
New Delhi: Unheralded Clint McKay shone with the ball while Rob Quiney hit a quickfire 40 to help Victoria Bushrangers register a convincing seven-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in a Group D match of the inaugural Champions League tournament on Friday.
Quiney made a breezy 40 off 33 deliveries while captain Cameron White scored a patient 22 to overwhelm the Daredevils target with 20 balls to spare.
Little known McKay and Shane Harwood rattled the hosts, picking up three and two wickets respectively to restrict them to a paltry 98/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
Andrew McDonald also scalped two victims in the final two deliveries of the Daredevils innings.
For only Daredevils Virender Sehwag (21), Tillakaratne Dilshan (18) and Mithun Manhas (25) could manage double figures as the host batsmen made a mockery of their decision to bat first.
They lost wickets at regular intervals to surrender before the disciplined Victoria bowlers in a low and slow Feroz Shah Kotla wicket.
Amit Mishra, Dilshan and Rajat Bhatia were the wicket takers for Daredevils, scalping one each.
The Victoria openers Quiney and Brad Hodge (9) started their chase on a cautious note and dealt mostly in singles and twos with occasional hits to the fence to fetch 32 runs of the first five overs.
Left-handed Quiney, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, was the aggressor among the two as he hit four fours and three huge sixes in his 33-ball stay at the crease.
He struck three massive sixes one of Ashish Nehra and two off leg-spinner Amit Mishra to race Victoria to 55. Mishra finally took his revenge, clean bowling Quiney but not before he added valuable 55 runs for the opening wicket with Hodge.
Hodge also followed suit when his timbers were disturbed by Dilshan as the right-hander went for an extravagant pull but missed it completely to see his middle stump knocked out.
From there on victory was just a formality and White and David Hussey shared 23 runs between them to take Victoria close to the target.
Just when it seemed the two would finish the proceedings Hussey played on a Bhatia delivery to give a slight ray of hope to the Delhi side. But it was not to be Daredevils' day as White and Aiden Blizzard ensured that there was no further hiccup to see the Australian side home.
Blizzard finished off the innings in style, depositing Bhatia over the long-on boundary.
Earlier, McKay (3/17)and Harwood (2/20) wreaked havoc with the ball to restrict Delhi Daredevils to a meagre 98.
Struggling for runs, Sehwag seemed determined to make the most out of the outing as he started off the Daredevils innings in style, hitting Harwood for back-to-back boundaries in the opening over.
On the other hand, his opening partner Gambhir's stay at the crease was a struggle and it finally ended when a low Harwood delivery cannoned into the stumps when the left-hander struggled to get his bat down in time.
Sehwag showed glimpses of his ominous best, finding the fence four times during his 15-ball stay at the middle. He eventually fell to a blinder of a catch by McKay on his own bowling.
Daredevils' were further dug into trouble when Owais Shah departed without opening his account, nicking one to Matthew Wade off McKay to see the hosts reel at 42/3 after seven overs.
Dinesh Karthik (6) too did not last long and feel prey to a mix up with Dilshan.
Dilshan, in company of injured Mithun Manhas, did try to resurrect the Daredevils innings with a 29-run fifth wicket stand, but the Sri Lankan also perished in search of quick runs.
McKay registered his third wicket of the day by rattling the right-hander's timbers with Daredevils scoreboard reading 76/5 in 15.1 overs.
Brief score
Delhi Daredevils: 98 for 8 (Manhas 25, McKay 3-17)
Victoria: 100 for 3 (Quiney 40)
Result: Victoria beat Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets
Points: Victoria 2, Delhi Daredevils 0
MOM: CJ McKay (Victoria)
