IPL: Sehwag Makes It Look Easy As Delhi Stay At Top

Virender Sehwag scored an unbeaten 87 off 48 balls to help Delhi Daredevils to chase down 147 set for victory by Pune Warriors, in only 16 overs.

On what appeared to be a difficult pitch to bat on. Delhi’s run-chase turned out to be anti-climatic, as they got there without a bother. The credit though should go to Sehwag who through a typical innings which only he can play made the run-chase look like a walk in the park. Though Jayawardene was run-out early, Pietersen gave Sehwag company in their partnership of 89 runs, although he only scored 27 runs in it. Taylor came to the wicket at the fall of Pietersen’s wicket and stayed till the end.

Earlier, Pune’s innings got off to a disastrous start as they lost Ryder and Ganguly to Pathan and Morkey respectively, with hardly anything on board. But Uthappa who came in to join Manish Pandey ensured that no more wickets fell. The two put together a partnership of 145 runs, which though unbroken, was not urgent enough. It was the middle overs, expecially when left-arm duo of Nadeem and Negi was in operation that Pandey and Uthapa struggled to score at a good pace. In six overs when the two were bowling, only 33 runs were conceded. It was this slack in scoring which could not be made up even with some hitting in the late overs that proved the difference in a match winning total and what Pune actually got.

The win ensures that Delhi remains at the top of the table.