Delhi Daredevils thrash Kings XI

DELHI: Delhi Daredevils thrashed Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets in their final home match at Feroz Shah Kotla in the IPL group stage on Friday.
They gutted Kings XI Punjab’s top order and then blew past the opposition’s 118 for 8 by nine wickets.
Zaheer Khan claimed a wicket in each of his first two overs to kick Daredevil’s most dominant performance of the season into gear, while JP Duminy and Nathan Coulter-Nile chipped in with scalps of their own.
After 3.3 overs, Kings XI were 10 for 4 — their chance of rising above last place already on the rocks.
Coulter-Nile returned to terrorise the middle-order later on, finishing with figures of 4 for 20.
Daredevils’ openers Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer struck casual half-centuries in the reply, and the hosts raced home inside 14 overs.
Zaheer had not played competitive cricket in almost a year, following the strain sustained in his back at last year’s IPL, but his impact at the Kotla was nearly immediate.
Virender Sehwag was coming back to the Kings XI side himself, after a one-match layoff, but failed to end his poor stretch of form against his former India team-mate.
It wasn’t until Miller and Akshar Patel were joined at the crease that some semblance of a partnership materialised for the visitors.