Dominating batting led by Sehwag seals Delhi win over Mumbai

New Delhi, Apr 28 : Skipper Virender Sehwag slammed an explosive 73 and shared a scintillating 135-run opening stand with Mahela Jayawardene (55) to lead Delhi Daredevils to a crushing 37-run win over Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League match, here today.

Delhi put on board a mammoth 207 for five after electing to bat and then restricted Mumbai to 170 for nine to become the only team in the current edition to have scored wins against the same rival both at home and away.

If Delhi out-bowled them in the first leg, the troika of Sehwag, Jayawardene and Pietersen out-batted them in this encounter to help the hosts continue their domination at the top with 12 points eight games.

Mumbai lost their batting mainstay Sachin Tendulkar (7) in the very third over off Morne Morkel’s bowling, offering an easy catch to mid-off.

Rohit Sharma (12) was out in the next over and it became a tall-order for MI batsmen although Ambati Rayudu (62 off 39) and Dinesh Karthik (40 off 28 balls) tried their best with a 95-run fourth wicket partnership.

Once Shahbaz Nadeem (2/35) removed Rayudu and Kieron Pollard (16) in the 16th over, the match was over as a contest.

The day however belonged to the trio of Sehwag, Jayawardene and Pietersen who pulverized MI bowlers with some real power-hitting.

Sehwag who hit eight fours and four sixes added 135 runs for the opening stand with Jayawardene (55 off 42 balls as Mumbai Indian bowlers were sent on a leatherhunt.

Pietersen smashed an unbeaten 50 off 26 balls (6x4, 3x6) towards the end to beef up the total.

KXIP look to make amends against CSK

Chennai, Apr 27: Kings XI Punjab would look to put behind the disappointment of their dismal performance against Mumbai Indians in the last game and make amends when they take on Chennai Super Kings in their Indian Premier League match, here today.

Punjab would be eager to forget their last match when they were thrashed by the Mumbai Indians as Ambati Rayudu (34) and Robin Peterson (16) creamed leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for 27 runs in the penultimate over to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

But it would be a difficult proposition for the low-on-confidence Punjab outfit to tame the ‘Men in Yellow’ in their own den.

Not just their last match, as it is, Kings XI team’s performance has been cause of worry.

Having lost five of their eight matches so far in the tournament, they are fully aware that they would have to play out of their skins if they intend to topple the hosts.

Their misery is compounded by the absence of skipper Adam Gilchrist, out with an hamstring injury, who is still a doubtful starter for tomorrow’s match.

But KXIP would be banking heavily on stand-in-skipper David Hussey, whose unbeaten 68-run knock in the last match helped Kings XI post a competitive total against Mumbai Indians.

Besides Hussey, another Australian Shaun Marsh has also been a amongst runs but the other batsmen require to take the centre stage in order to give some boost to Kings XI’s batting.

They would also be hoping for the bowlers, especially Chawla, to raise their game and deliver.