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Kochi Tuskers ended their 3 match losing streak with an emphatic win over the Delhi Daredevils on Monday night. The Daredevils were indisciplined in every department and it showed in the winning margin as they suffered a crushing defeat. Delhi Daredevils put up just 140 runs on the board which was never enough for the kind of track the match was played on. Kochi were given an explosive start by Brendon McCullum who scored 37 off just 19 balls. The other Kochi batsmen played in a similar attacking vein and wrapped up proceedings as early as the 15^th over.

Virender Sehwag dismantled Kochi at the Nehru Stadium a few days ago with his blistering knock of 80 and had a chance to inflict more misery on them when the Delhi Daredevils hosted the Kochi Tuskers. Mahela Jayawardene’s disappointment was evident after that loss and he seemed aware of the fact that he needed to get things right in order to get back his team back on track. Both teams needed a win desperately to rise up in the standings as they hope to qualify for the play-offs.

The evening started off well for Jayawardene as he called the toss correctly. He decided to bowl first laying emphasis on the dew factor. Sehwag, on the other hand, was happy to bat first on the flat Kotla track. Delhi stuck with their winning combination but Kochi made a couple of changes. Parameswaran was given his first game and Raiphi Gomez made his way back into the side.

Sehwag was in a merciless mood as he smashed his first ball to the boundary in style. He was continuing in the same fashion as he played in the last game. The crowd was right behind him and DD Captain didn’t disappoint, smashing the first ball from Parameswaran out of the park. His exciting little knock came to a close soon though as he got out just in typical Sehwag fashion - edging the ball to the keeper. Sehwag had raced on to 15 off just 8 balls but to the disappointment of the large crowd, the entertainers innings was over almost as quickly as it had begun. After playing out a few dot balls Naman Ojha broke the shackles with a six off Parameswaran. Warner (13) hadn’t hit many off the middle of his bat and mistimed a pull which landed safely in the hands of Vinay Kumar. Kochi had gotten rid of the dangerous opening pair within the powerplay and had given just 42 runs and looked on course to take control of the game.

Delhi reached 50 in the 8^th over but alos lost Naman Ojha (13) on the way, meaning that they treaded in dangerous waters. Venugopal Rao and Yogesh Nagar took Delhi past the half way mark but failed to be aggressive at the right moments as the attempted to steady the Delhi ship. Vinay Kumar bowled a shocking ball that bounced twice and was deservedly put away by Nagar to the boundary. Delhi slowly gained momentum as they headed towards the business end of the innings. Rao, who has been in excellent form this season, took charge and got the odd boundary to ensure that the scoreboard kept ticking. The 50 partnership came up in the 14^th over as the duo took Delhi out of the darkness and into the light.

Vinay Kumar broke the partnership finally getting rid of Yogesh Nagar for 18. Travis Birt joined Venu and had no time to settle. Both batsmen managed to find the boundary at least once every over but Rao departed after scoring 40 off 36 balls to the youngster Parameswaran. Irfan Pathan came in but it was Birt who took toll of the Tuskers’ bowlers hitting 4 boundaries in 6 balls. Delhi seemed to be heading for 150 at that stage but Birt couldn’t finish the innings off as Parthiv Patel held on to an incredible catch to send him packing. Birt scored 27 off just 15 balls, contributing massively to the Delhi cause. RP Singh bowled a brilliant last over conceding just 5 runs, keeping it very tight and giving the Delhi batsman no room whatsoever. Delhi ended up getting a meager 140 which looked too meek on the Kotla batting paradise.

Michael Klinger was persisted with as the opening partner for Brendon McCullum as Kochi’s chase of 141 began in full earnest. Irfan Pathan bowled 3 wides in the first over with one of them going for 4 byes, something Delhi could ill afford. Brendon McCullum meanwhile sized up Morne Morkel and hit 3 explosive boundaries in an over. McCullum liked the pace and bounce of the pitch and made full use of it while scoring 23 off an over from Umesh Yadav. The 50 had come up in just the 4^th over and it looked an easy ride for Kochi. Klinger had been quiet for sometime but he pitched in with two drives off Pathan adding 8 more to the total. McCullum’s blitzkrieg finally ended when he smashed the ball straight to mid on. He scored 37 off just 19 giving his side a great chance to return to winning ways. Kochi were off to a flyer as the required rate plummeted below 6.

It was all going well for Kochi till Klinger got some shocking bounce and was adjudged leg before wicket for 18. Captain Mahela Jayawardene came in after Klinger’s fall and rotated the strike with Parthiv Patel very well. Jayawardene (7) didn’t last long as after surviving a close leg before wicket appeal he was run out amidst the confusion. Parthiv decided to speed up the end and smashed two boundaries off an Agarkar over. Kochi reached 100 in the 12^th over which was their best effort of the season. Parthiv continued to attack and this time the victim was Morkel. Brad Hodge decided to join Parthiv and lofted part-time Nagar for a six which he followed up with a boundary.

With 18 required off the last 7 overs, Kochi found themselves in the easiest of situations to be in. Hodge wanted to finish things off quickly and smashed two more boundaries off Pathan. Parthiv Patel hit the winning runs as Kochi reached home with 5 full overs to spare. Parthiv remained unbeaten on 37 whereas Hodge scored a brisk 24 off just 13 balls. Kochi were the better team by far in all departments which showed in the winning margin.

Delhi Daredevils having won just 3 of 9 games and look done and dusted as far as the 2011 IPL season is concerned. Their sole objective from here on out will be to try and avoid finishing at the bottom of the pile and their first stop towards that journey will be to travel to Hyderabad to play another struggling team in form of Deccan Chargers.

Kochi Tuskers on the other hand have reignited their hopes of a top four finish and will look to notch up another win when they play the Kolkata Knight Riders in their own backyard.

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils: David Warner, Virender Sehwag(c), Irfan Pathan, Venugopal Rao, Travis Birt, Naman Ojha(wk), Roelef van der Merwe, Yogesh Nagar, Morne Morkel, Ajit Agarkar, Umesh Yadav

Kochi Tuskers Kerala: Brendon McCullum, Mahela Jayawardene(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Brad Hodge, Parthiv Patel(wk), Michael Klinger, Raiphi Gomez, Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, Prasanth Parameswaran

Mini Scorecard:

Delhi Daredevils 140/6 in 20 overs (7 runs per over)
V Rao     40(36)  V Kumar   2-25
T Birt    27(15)  P Parameswaran  2-29

Kochi Tuskers 141/3 in 15 overs (9.4 runs per over)
P Patel    37*(31)  R van der Merwe  1-15
B McCullum   37(19)  M Morkel   1-29

Kochi Tuskers won by 7 wickets