IPL: Pietersen’s Century Powers Delhi To A Comfortable Win Over Deccan

Kevin Pietersen scored an unbeaten 103, his highest score in Twenty20, to help Delhi Daredevils beat Deccan Deccan by 5 wickets. The loss leaves Deccan winless and at the bottom of the table.

Chasing a gettable target of 158, Delhi began on a shocking note as they lost three wickets – Ojha, Sehwag and Jayawardene – for only 23 runs. Steyn bowled another fiery spell, as Delhi’s batsmen struggled. When Taylor fell in the 10 over with score on 65, Delhi looked like they will fumble the chase. But Pietersen, who got reprieve multiple times, as Deccan dropped him thrice, had other plans. It was Duminy’s over, 14^th of the Delhi innings that finally turned the wheels for Delhi, as Pietersen dispatched him for 21 runs. He launched into Mishra then taking more runs off him, and soon Delhi were coasting to victory. A six of the first ball of the 20^th over brought Delhi the victory and Pietersen a century.

Deccan though will remember the match for the missed opportunities. Batting first, they were 106 for 2 in the 12^th over and looked set for a big score when the slide began. Nadeem and Morkel were the biggest destroyer for Delhi as they took three wickets each. Deccan in the end reached a score of 157, which was clearly at least 15 runs short of what they looked like getting.