IPL 2018: KXIP vs DD, 3 key points from the match

The match 2 of the IPL 2018 proved to be an eventful contest between the two North Indian franchises. With Gautam Gambhir coming back to lead his home franchise, the revamped daredevils took on the spirited Kings XI Punjab who were led by their new skipper Ravichandran Ashwin in their own backyard.

Delhi Daredevils lost the toss and could manage to score only 166/7 from 20 overs. The skipper led from the front and topped the batting charts with 55 runs off 42 balls. Chasing a modest target of 167, opener K L Rahul started hitting from the very first over and scored 50 off just 13 balls. Karun Nair made good use of the situation and scored 50 off 33 balls to ease the chase. Handy contributions from Marcus Stoinis and David Miller ensured that the Punjab based side cross the line.

Let us look into 3 key points from the match:

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#3. Power-play made the difference

K L Rahul started the IPL scoring fastest fifty of the IPL

Both the teams were balanced equally but what made Kings XI Punjab stand apart was the way they executed their plans in the power play over. Ashwin used 5 bowlers in the power play to reduce the Delhi Daredevils to just 45 runs along with the loss of dangerous Colin Munro. Only Gautam Gambhir managed to squeeze runs in those over.

On the contrary, K L Rahul shifted gears from the very first over and scored the 3rd fastest T20 fifty off just 14 balls. Although the Kings XI Punjab lost Mayank Agarwal in the power play, their scoring rate never dropped. Once the foundation was laid, the seasoned batsmen like Karun Nair, David Miller, and Marcus Stoinis just played according to their strengths and brought their team home with 7 balls to spare.

#2 Delhi has a lot of issues to address

Gambhir needs to re-group his team to turn into a formidable unit

Delhi Daredevils led by Gautam Gambhir are one of the underachievers in the IPL and are looking to turn their fortunes back this season. However, after the first match, they need to re-group and address a lot of issues. Delhi put up a decent total of 166/4 on the board courtesy to their captain Gautam Gambhir’s elegant 55 off 42. They had high hopes from Indian players like Shreyas Iyer, Vijay Shankar, and Rishabh Pant. But none of them could convert their flamboyant starts to big scores. Among them, Pant started shifting gears but ended up scoring only 28 off 13 balls. Delhi needs someone in the middle order to bat till the end so that the power hitters like Chris Morris and Dan Christian can explore at the end to take their score past 180.

When it comes to bowling, the senior bowlers especially Amit Mishra were exploited in the power play and he had a disappointing evening in the field. Other senior bowlers like Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Chris Morris and Dan Christian also need to step up and share the responsibilities. The management would be expecting their bowlers to pick up wickets at regular intervals in the power plays and the death over.

The Delhi based side has a leader in Gautam Gambhir to lead their batting unit from the front. They just need to focus on creating a formidable batting as well as a bowling unit. With the tournament just underway, they would surely look to mend their batting and bowling woes and come back stronger.

#1 Ashwin succeeds to leave a mark

Ashwin was really

impressive

with his decisions as captain

The final key event of the match was the debut of Ravichandran Ashwin as leader of the Kings XI Punjab side. The franchise had tried many captains in the past and now will be looking forward to Ashwin to lead them towards the much-coveted glory. He opened the bowling himself, used 5 bowlers in the power play, rotated his bowling options well and was always looking for wickets.

He initially promised the Punjab fans to be unorthodox as captain and as far as the first match is concerned he has lived up to the expectations. Not only he ended up with an impressive bowling figure of 23 runs and 1 wicket off his 4 over, but also he protected his bowlers when they went for runs and unleashed them according to the situation to pick up wickets. It’s his vision that resulted in the new Afghan spinner Muzeeb Ur Rahman to finish his debut match with 2 scalps for just 28 runs. His only concern will be the form of Yuvraj Singh. The veteran all-rounder struggled at the crease and will be looking to get back to the rhythm soon.

If Ashwin can lead by example and the Kings XI Punjab can carry forward this momentum, the fans can surely expect a lot more to cheer.