The voices were growing. Kieron Pollard had been under the hammer and fetched himself a fine price. But the big bazooka of his bat was yet to fire for telling effect. He chose a match of academic importance (not so for the Delhi Daredevils) to show his prowess.
Pollard’s blitzkrieg of forty-five off thirteen balls really orbited the Mumbai Indians into an untouchable zone, this after Sachin Tendulkar and Saurabh Tiwary sparkled ever so briefly. Pradeep Sangwan though applied the brakes. But the MI team really needed one innings of horsepower and Pollard was happy to oblige, rampaging the Delhi bowling as he stoked off five sixes.
183 was a tough proposition for the Daredevils who slipped up in their last two matches, their captain Gautam Gambhir sulky about playing at home, and this was a tough away match at the Brabourne Stadium to try and score two more points to push themselves closer to the IPL 3 semi finals.
In reply, the Daredevils capitulated to the enormity of the situation, the challenging target and Pollard who could not get himself away from the action. Measly four overs from Pollard forced Delhi to succumb to a thirty-nine run defeat.
And it was after the top order showed some signs of life, David Warner making thirty-one and Virender Sehwag making twenty-runs before he was run out but once the wickets tumbled, it was all over too fast. Dilhara Fernando picking up the opening and closing wickets while Ali Murtaza brought the middle order to a standstill.
Andrew MacDonald was stranded unbeaten on thirty-three runs, as there was none to support him, AB de Villiers and Paul Collingwood perishing in the mayhem as well. From one for seventy-two, Daredevils lost five wickets for twenty-two runs, not something they would have liked to highlight at such a critical stage of the IPL 3 tournament.
2010 IPL 3 Match 46: Deccan Chargers Pull One off Against a Royal Challenge
2010 IPL 3 Match 45: Tendulkar Juggernaut Means Sham for Royals
2010 IPL 3 Match 44: Spoilsport KXIP Ruin Daredevils’ Home Skirmish
2010 IPL 3 Match 43: Royal Challengers Thump Knight Riders in Tense Encounter
2010 IPL 3 Match 42: Chennai Turn up Insipid in Battle Against Chargers; Suman Shines
2010 IPL 3 Match 41: Red Hot KXIP Give Mumbai Indians a Nasty Surprise
2010 IPL 3 Match 40: Chargers Find a Majestic Win Against RCB; Live to Fight Another Day
IPL 3 Match 39: Daredevils Lose Nerve and Slip Against Spot-On Knight Riders
2010 IPL 3 Match 38: Under performing KXIP Beaten by Overpowering Lumb; Sreesanth Loses It
2010 IPL 3 Match 37: Chennai Rock as MI Fail Once Tendulkar Succumbs to the Heat
2010 IPL 3 Match 36: Deccan Chargers Fail to Ignite Again
2010 IPL 3 Match 35: Collingwood Shines Brighter for Daredevils In Battle Royale
Follow the action trail for all of the IPL 3 season:
2010 IPL 3 Schedule of Matches, IPL3 Points Tally, IPL 3 Team Squads, News in the Run Up
2010 IPL 3 Match 34: Mahela Helps KXIP Register their Second IPL 3 Win, Overpowering Gayle
