The Neighbors On A Battle

by Harshdip Singh

Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals

Match 4

There are two teams in the IPL whose glamour quotients are much higher than the rest of the team.

One is Kings XI Punjab; courtesy Priety Zinta and the other is Rajasthan Royals due to none other than Shilpa Shetty. And the match here in question is that of the later against the Tigers-(turned-cubs-without-KP,) Delhi Daredevils.
So on  field, the wait is over, not only for just the IPL fans or the Indian Cricket fans, but for the world because you get to see the gentleman on the field ,who gives meaning to the term that ‘Cricket is a Gentleman’s sport’- Rahul Dravid.

Yes! Rahul Dravid is back on field !

During the toss, on being asked how it has been staying away from the sport, he says it’s been great and it’s great to be back on the sport too. So all in all, it’s always great going for the WALL.
You can witness the awkwardness in the Delhi Daredevils team when Mahela Jayawardene forgets the name of the fourth overseas player in the team and the opposition captain Rahul Dravid has to remind him that it is Johan Botha much to our amusement.
I would like to let you know in passing that Shane Watson, the star of the Royals is unavailable for the match . So the Royals win the toss and go to bat. Ajinkya Rahane, the famous Indian boy opens with an overseas boy from Sri Lanka, Kushal Perera. It does not take much long for Rahul Dravid to take guard in the middle. The awesome  defense and piercing shots on field are ‘paisa wasool’ stuff and Rahul Dravid and Rahane does clear justice to it.
These two has a good going until the 12th over when Rahane gets ‘victimized’ by Delhi’s spinner, Nadeem. In comes Stuart Binny and a nice burst from him with a 20-ball-40, makes it 142-2 in 16 overs for Royals. With 8 wickets at hand, and the two batsmen playing so well, you expect the batting side to at least make it around 180.

But remember, IPL. Delhi bowler Umesh Yadav is on a  strong comeback roll. Taking three quick wickets, to add to the tally of total of 4 wickets, he restricts the Royals to 165-7  with the batsmen post Binny scoring in single digits.
The IPL-6 Golden Duck Boy, Unmukht Chand opens up for Delhi with the explosive Warner. They start well but with Sreeshanth on Royals side, drama cannot be far away. He cleans Unmukht’s stumps to give the fans a famous pose of THE-Sreeshanth.

So the next pair of Delhi on crease are-Warner and Jayawardene; Very important for one of them to bat through if Delhi needs to win this match.
On the 10th over, you actually have a deja vu or is it just a shadow innings of Royals! The first wicket falls after a little burst and then the two batsmen continue well with hitting the odd boundaries.

The second wicket falls too just around the same time when Royals had lost their second wicket. This point of time, Stuart Binny happened for Royals; let’s see what happens to the Daredevils.
And then an embarrassing moment for the management. This was bound to happen sometime but this early in the series is bad. One of the floodlights goes off and the play gets stopped for around 15 minutes. Bad bad bad !!
Delhi now needs 66 runs from 42 balls with 8 wickets in hand. Doesn’t seem unreachable! Warner’s batting is superb like a senior player and so after a very well fought fight from the uncapped Juneja and Warner, they bring it down to 17 required off 2 overs. Juneja falls through. Then a direct hit from the Stand-in captain, Brad Hodge sends Warner back which makes it difficult for Delhi and changes the game at once.
With 9 required from last 6 deliveries, Cooper does a very good job for the new -in- batsmen and gets his team home with 5 runs.
Second loss for Delhi in 2 games and Royals start with a win..
A very good game. And who better could have received the Man-of-the-Match than the favorite, Rahul Dravid.
So the first day game of IPL – 6 gets done. Many more to come. Keep Tuned !

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