Centurion Warner leads Delhi 40-run victory

A sparkling century by David Warner gifted Delhi a 40-run victory over Kolkata here on Monday.

Zeecric Bureau

New Delhi: A sparkling century by David Warner gifted Delhi Daredevils their second victory on the trot as they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 40 runs here at the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium on Monday. It did not start on a very promising note for Delhi Daredevils as they lost three crucial wickets in the first three overs after electing to bat first, and it they could post a smashing 177/4 against Kolkata Knight Riders, all credit goes to Warner. Warner played an inning of a lifetime as he scored a stupendous century, an unbeaten 107 to be precise, that helped his team post a respectable score, especially after a disastrous start where they lost Virender Sehwag (8) in the first over, Gambhir (1) in the second and Dinesh Karthik for a duck in the third. After snapping three wickets in the first three overs, Kolkata Knight Riders were on cloud nine. But Warner made sure that Kolkata’s celebrations do not last long! So what if Delhi lost their key batsmen very early, Warner exploded the Ferozshah Kotla stadium with extra-ordinary some fireworks that came out of his bat in form of nine mind-blowing boundaries and five powerful sixes.Collingwood gave perfect company to Warner as he hit a remarkable 53 runs, which came with the help of three boundaries and two sixes. Later, stunner of a catch by David Hussey in the last over departed Collingwood. Where none of Sourav’s boys could stop Warner’s Daredevilry, Chris Gayle, Angelo Matthews, Hussey and Murali Kartik were still economical.Chasing a competitive 178, Kolkata seemed to be struggling from the very beginning. Unlike the Delhi innings, Kolkata’s target chase lacked the luster of some fine batting by their batsmen. None of the batsmen could add a decent score to their team’s total. Skipper Sourav Ganguly again seemed to be struggling for form as he was bowled out by Dirk Nannes for mere 5 runs in the third over. An over later, Amit Mishra got Mandeep Singh stumped out by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik for a duck. In the next over, it was Andrew McDonald’s turn to grab a wicket for Delhi and he bowled out Manoj Tiwary, also for a duck. An over later, Kolkata would have lost their fourth and the most important wicket of Chris Gayle, but luck favoured them and Virender Sehwag dropped a simple catch to give a second life to the Caribbean player. However, as destiny would have it, Gayle was later dismissed by Amit Mishra off Rajat Bhatia’s delivery for 30 runs. After’s Gayle’s dismissal, David Hussey (29), Angelo Matthews (24) and Widdhiman Saha (20) remained the only ‘high’ scorers of the team. In the last over, Andrew McDonald picked two wickets to finally wrap Kolkata’s innings at 137/9, leaving them 40 runs short of victory. Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Gayle, Sourav Ganguly(c), Mandeep Singh, Manoj Tiwary, David Hussey, Angelo Mathews, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ajit Agarkar, Charl Langeveldt, Iqbal Abdulla, Ashok Dinda Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Gautam Gambhir(c), Paul Collingwood, Dinesh Karthik(w), Kedar Jadhav, Andrew McDonald, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Pradeep Sangwan, Dirk Nannes