Delhi salvage pride, thrash Cobras by 30 runs

New Delhi:

Delhi Daredevils gave their fans at least something to cheer about as the hosts signed off their Champions League Twenty20 campaign beating Cape Cobras by 30 runs in a low-scoring inconsequential League B encounter on Monday.

The match between the Delhi team and the South African side was only of academic interest as the hosts are already out of contention for a semi-final berth after going down to Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last outing.

On the other hand, today's defeat saw Cobras finish their league campaign on second spot and they would now take on a high-flying Trinidad and Tobago in second semi-final of the USD six million tournament in Hyderabad on Friday.

The first semi-final here on Wednesday will witness the battle between two Australian powerhouses New South Wales and Victoria Bushrangers.

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Opting to field, Rory Kleinveldt (2/31) and Justin Ontong (2/8) scalped two wickets each as Cobras restricted Daredevils to a paltry 114 for six.

Then Paceman Dirk Nannes picked up three wickets for just 19 runs, while Tillakaratne Dilshan (2/16), Amit Mishra (2/19) and Yogesh Nagar (2/9) took two wickets each to bundle out the Cobras for 84 runs with nine balls to spare.

Henry Davids (22) and JP Duminy (14) were the notable run-getters in the South African side's runchase which never got momentum after the early blows.

Defending the modest total, Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir sprang a surprise when he gave the new ball to off-spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan and the Sri Lankan lived upto captain's faith by scalping the vital wicket of Herschelle Gibbs (0) in second ball of the innings.

Daredevils' most impressive bowler Nannes too joined the party soon, disturbing the timbers of Cobras skipper Andrew Puttick (6).

After losing two early wickets, Davids (22 off 29) and JP Duminy (14 off 20) seemed in no mood to take any chances as the duo played sensibly to add 27 before Pradeep Sangwan's throw from backward point caught Davids inches short of the crease, leaving the South Africans at 49 for three after 10 overs.

Amit Mishra's twin strike in the 11th over further changed the complexion of the match in Daredevils' favour as Cobras lost half of their side with just 57 on the board.

Mishra first picked up Kleinveldt, caught by Shah at sweeper-cover region and then followed it up with the crucial wicket of Duminy, who completely missed a turning delivery.

Needing 45 runs of 36 deliveries, the Cobras chase received another jolt in the form of Ontong as Dilshan went through the defence of the right-hander.

From there on Daredevils as they picked up wickets at regular intervals as Cobras managed 84, which is also the lowest total by any team in the tournament so far.

Put into bat, Virender Sehwag-less Daredevils earlier went off to a disastrous start losing both their openers Gambhir (0) and Dilshan (1) with the four runs on the board after two overs.

Owais Shah struck an unbeaten 39 off 38 deliveries, while Dinesh Karthik played a 24-ball 23 to help Daredevils reach the triple figure.

To much disappointment of the home fans, Sehwag, who was the only Daredevils batsmen to have shown promise in the tournament, opted out of the encounter to make way for young Yogesh Nagar (10) in the dead rubber.

Gambhir and Dilshan's woeful run in the event continues as the duo once again failed to make any significant impact with bat and Kleinveldt cleaned both the openers in the second over of the innings.

Karthik, however, seemed in great touch as he clobbered Kleinveldt for three consecutive fours to give some momentum to the hosts' innings.

He shared 40 runs for the third wicket with Manoj Tiwary (19) before Claude Henderson went through the defence of Tiwary.

The Daredevils' problems were further compounded when Karthik fell to a mix-up, leaving the hosts' tottering at 46 for four wickets at the halfway mark.

Shah and Nagar then added 36 runs for the fifth wicket but just when it was time to accelerate after laying the foundation, Nagar departed after being caught at short-fine leg by Henderson off Ontong.