Yusuf Pathan powers RR to a victory over DD
Posted by samchin on Apr 28, 2009
A superlative performance by Yusuf Pathan and sound batting by Graeme Smith helped Rajasthan Royals rise from the rubble and won the IPL match against Delhi Daredevils at SuperSport Park, Centurion. Rajasthan Royals beat Delhi Daredevils by 5 wickets. Yusuf Pathan, who made an unbeaten 61 off 30 balls with 3 boundaries and 6 sixes, was declared “Man of the Match”. This match was very important from Rajasthan Royals’ point of view. Daredevils lost their first match in IPL Season 2.
Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to bat first. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag failed again. AB de Villiers played his part and made 50. Daniel Vettori and Mithun Manhas contributed 29 and 23* respectively. For Rajasthan Royals, Mascarenhas, Munaf Patel and Shane Warne took 2 wickets each.
Chasing a victory targer of 144, Rajasthan Royals lost quick wickets and were 64/5 in 11 overs. There was a twist in the tale after that. Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan added an unbeaten 83 runs for the sixth wicket to see their team through. Rajasthan Royals reached 147/5 in just 18.3 overs.
Yusuf Pathan was completely unstoppable and all tricks applied by Sehwag backfired before him. Yusuf Pathan made unbeaten 61 off 30 balls. Graeme Smith remained not out on 44. For Daredevils, Amit Mishra took 3 wickets. Yusuf Pathan won the “Maximum Number of Sixes” award. He was also declared “Man of the Match”.
With this win, Rajasthan Royals moved to the fourth spot in the points table of IPL Season 2 with 5 points from 5 matches. Deccan Chargers lead the table with 8 points from 4 matches, while Delhi Daredevils have 6 points from four matches. Mumbai Indians are on third spot with 5 points from 4 matches.