Delhi continues to reign supreme RR semis chances slim

AB De Villiers

The table leader Delhi Dare Devils improved their lead by winning the 50 th match of IPL-2 against Rajasthan Royals with this win the Dare Devils have comfortably booked their semi finals slot.The match which was very crucial for Rajasthan Royals saw Delhi Dare Devils wining  the toss and electing to bat .DD’s openers Sehwag and Gambir failed yet again both falling for Munaf Patel in the same over .Munaf exploited the pitch which helped bowlers earlier in the innings by bowling good line and length .This time also it was the trio of AB De Villiers, Dilshan and Dinesh Karthik who helped DD get to a decent total of 150 .  AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan’s  87-run stand between them for 3rd wicket steadied the ship after the initial losses.Tillakaratne Dilshan was out for 33  de Villiers was then joined by Dinesh Karthik (23),  and they accumulated runs briskly. They scored 48 runs from 20 balls which included some aggressive run between the wickets.Munaf bowling his second spell gave away 25 runs of the 19th over thanks to hard hitting Karthik. Dehli seems to depending too much on the trio (AB De Villiers, Dilshan and Dinesh Karthik) just like last year’s IPL when they always looked at Sehwag ,Ghambir and Seekar Dawan to deliver.

chasing 151 RR were never in the hunt ,the in from fast bowlers of Delhi Dare Devils continued to bowled tight line and length.Only resistance came in the form of Botha who scored 37 of 31 balls .Munaf patel played little cameo in the end for his 10 ball 23 but that was too late.

For RR to enter semis they now need to beat the Kolkata Knight Riders soundly in their final league match. If they loose that the race for a semi-final spot shifts to net run-rates, and how the other top teams fare.

Man of the match : AB de Villiers for his unbeaten 79.