IPL 6: Cooper shines in last-over thriller

A brilliant last over from Cooper, where he conceded three runs and picked up two wickets, eventually sealed the game for Rajasthan Royals by 5 runs against Daredevils. Delhi Daredevils required 9 runs from the last over with 6 wickets in hand, but managed only three runs in the last over from Cooper.

Daredevils’ chase was led by David Warner, who played an outstanding innings of 77, which helped Delhi inch closer towards Royals total of 165.

Perhaps Warner knew that there was no fire power in the middle order, and therefore, he took the responsibility on his shoulders and played an excellent innings. His opening partner, Chand, didn’t stay too long as he was bowled by Sreesanth for 23. Soon after, skipper Jayewardene couldn’t play a support knock as he was dismissed for 19, leaving the score at 82/2 in the 11th over.

Following the wicket of Jayewardene, Juneja joined Warner as the duo put on a salvaging partnership of 80 runs for the third wicket. Soon after Juneja’s dismissal, Delhi Daredevils crumbled, as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and finally fell short by 5 runs. Warner was the dominant partner as he scored 47 runs, while Juneja scored 20 runs in their partnership of 67 runs.

Johan Botha, who had been match-winner for Rajasthan Royals, was promoted up the order. He had a significant task on hand as the Daredevils required 13 runs of the last 9 deliveries. Shukla bowled the penultimate over well as he conceded only 4 runs.

Cooper grabbed the wicket of Botha in the last over as the latter was trapped in front, for 2 runs. Soon after, he scalped the wicket of Russell with a beautiful yorker. Cooper kept things simple as all his 6 deliveries were full in length that made it more difficult for the Daredevils batsmen to play their shots.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals batted first and posted a competitive total of 165 runs, led by Dravid, who scored a 65 of 51 balls.

Rajasthan Royals had a poor start as they lost Perera cheaply for 14. Rahane, who did not have a good series against Australia, got off to a good start as he smacked two consecutive fours of Nehra in his first over. However, just as he looked in good rhythm, he was dismissed by Nadeem for 28.

Soon after, Rahul Dravid had a constructive partnership with Binny as the duo put on 55 for the third wicket, before Binny was knocked off by Yadav for 40. Rajasthan Royals completely lost momentum thereafter, as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Finally, they managed to score 165 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.

Umesh Yadav was among the wickets as he picked up four for 24 runs. Irfan Pathan was expensive as he conceded 31 runs of his four overs. Russell and Botha did not have a good day with the ball as the duo were very expensive with his economy rate crossing more than 10 runs per over.

Rajasthan Royals play their next game against Knight Riders on April 8, while Delhi Daredevils play their next game against Mumbai Indians on April 9.