The Rajasthan Royals crashed to a comprehensive six wicket defeat at the hands of a Virender Sehwag inspired Delhi Daredevils in Ahmedabad.

Sehwag’s scintillating 75 guided the Daredevils to their victory target of 142 with three overs remaining, to leave the hosts winless so far this season.

Rajasthan’s innings was suffocated by the regular loss of wickets and their error strewn performance in the field will irritate skipper Shane Warne. Hampshire’s Dimitri Mascarenhas was again the pick of the Royals bowlers with steady figures of 2-31.

This was the first IPL match played at the imposing Sarder Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad and the locals responded by producing a cacophonous atmosphere. Daredevil’s skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to field first; his decision was immediately vindicated as Dirk Nannes picked up Swapnil Asnodkar for 4 in the first over.

Top order linchpin Greame Smith and Naman Ojha got Rajasthan back on track with some pugnacious hitting, but Amit Mishra ended Ojha’s cameo by bowling him for 24. This brought man of the moment Yusuf Pathan to the crease, fresh from his explosive 37 ball hundred on Saturday. But the game of cricket is a great leveller and he fell for a five ball duck and after six overs leaving the Royals on 47 for 3. When Smith was dismissed for 18, thanks to a juggling outfield catch by Sehwag, Warne’s men were struggling on 57 for 4 at the halfway stage.

The match was being played in uncomfortable conditions with a plethora of insects and bugs buzzing around the players. Paras Dogra came to the wicket and promptly smashed leg spinner Sarabjit Ladda for six over extra cover - an incredible stroke.

The visitors were strangling the scoring and boundaries were becoming increasingly sporadic; with five overs left Rajasthan were some way short of a good total on 91 for 4. Abhishek Jhunijunwala and Dogra both smeared towering sixes off Mishra to provide the innings with some much needed impetus until an appalling mix up saw Dogra run out for 29. Mascarenhas perished the same way for 3 to leave Rajasthan in trouble on 115 for 6 with a couple of overs remaining.

Jhunijunwala slogged the last ball of the innings for four to register an unbeaten 53 as Rajasthan finished on a below par 141 for 6.

In the reply, the destructive Sehwag treated Mascarenhas and Shaun Tait’s first overs disdainfully as 12 runs were taken off each.  Warne responded by bringing Munaf Patel into the attack and Sehwag greeted him by smashing a towering maximum down the ground. After three overs Delhi had raced to 40 without loss.

However our Hampshire captain snared the wickets of Gambhir and Tillakaratne Dilshan in successive balls but was denied a hat-trick by AB De Villiers. India’s premier opener continued to savagely punish the hosts bowling but he was given a life when he was dropped on 41 by Tait off Mascarenhas - a huge moment in the match.

After the powerplay Delhi were comfortably placed on 60 for 2. Sehwag blasted his way to a half century at the stunning strike rate of 252.38 to take the game away from the Royals. Amongst the carnage, Mascarenhas finished with the respectable figure of 2-31.

Sehwag was eventually dismissed Smith for a brutal 75 off just 34 deliveries which left the Daredevil’s 99 for 3 at the halfway stage - needing a paltry four an over for victory. Warne picked up De Villiers for 15 - his first wicket of the tournament - but it was too little too late. Mithun Manhas and Dinesh Karthik batted sensibly in an unbroken stand of 28 to seal the Daredevils' deserved success.

Next match: Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Rajasthan Royals, Bengaluru, Thursday 18th March at 14.30 GMT.

Neil Evans

 

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