By Suneer Chowdhary
It was a game where the teams could experiment but the serious element was added to it by the repercussions of the result. The losing team would have to face the ignominy of ending at the bottom-most position in the points table even as the side winning it would end at ninth.
Published: May 21, 2011, 10:54 PM (IST)
Edited: May 21, 2011, 10:54 PM (IST)
Rain played spoilsport in the IPL match between Pune Warriors India and Delhi Daredevils © AFP
By Suneer Chowdhary
New Delhi: May 21, 2011
It was a game where the teams could experiment but the serious element was added to it by the repercussions of the result. The losing team would have to face the ignominy of ending at the bottom-most position in the points table even as the side winning it would end at ninth.
Unfortunately for the two sides, they did not get the chance to display their wares, not in entirety any way as the rain took the sheen away from what could have been an inconsequential but an exciting game.
There were obvious team changes, with Colin Ingram and Matthew Wade getting into the side for Delhi and James Faulkner and Mitchell Marsh getting their chance for the Pune Warriors India.
The game was being played on the same pitch which had seen the Daredevils rake up 230 in the game against Punjab but the Delhi start was anything but explosive.
Alfonso Thomas got the ball to nip around and conceded only two in the opening over. Faulkner went one better, sending down a maiden over before Dave Warner seemed to be taking the matters into his own hands.
Thomas was hit for a six and a four off the next over while he smacked an outgoing Faulkner delivery over long-on for another six. However, a slower one from the IPL-debutant saw Warner play his swipe earlier and had his castle pegged back.
At the other end, Naman Ojha failed to connect too many. His innings lurched from bad to pretty abysmal and apart from an airy-fairy boundary off Shrikant Mundhe, his 18-ball knock, got him only eight. Off the 19th, his misery was ended as he slashed one to the third-man.
The runs were hard to come by and with the rain beginning to fall, the Daredevils opted to go after the bowling. In the process lost the wicket of Matthew Wade, bowled by Marsh, before the umpires decided that they had had enough and needed to go off the field. Delhi were 56 for three at the start of the 11th over at this stage and staring down the wrong end of the barrel on a flat-looking track.
However, the rain pelted down at this stage, and while there were times when it stopped, each time there were talks of resumption of play, it was the resumption of the inclement weather instead.
With this result, Pune ended on the ninth position while Delhi finished last in the points table.
Brief Scores: DD 56 for 3 in 10.1 overs (David Warner 19; Shrikant Mundhe 1 for 6, Mitchell Marsh 1 for 10, James Faulkner 1 for 9) vs PWI
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here @suneerchowdhary)
