High drama in low-scoring chase

Ajit Agarkar's all-round display backed by a composed half-century from Virender Sehwag helped Delhi Daredevils beat Perth Scorchers by three wickets and move a step closer to a semifinal berth in the Champions League Twenty20.

After Delhi's pace duo of Morne Morkel and man-of-the-match Agarkar restricted Scorchers to 121 for five in 20 overs, the Daredevils lost wickets at regular intervals but finally reached the target in 19.3 overs. The win took Delhi to 10 points from three matches and gave them a good chance of qualifying while the defeat meant end of the road for Scorchers.

Sehwag played an innings of 52 off 44 balls where he was restrained and waited for the loose deliveries as he hit only four boundaries and a six. Sehwag got lucky when his upper cut slipped from Nathan Rimmington's hands to go for a six and brought his half-century. However, Rimmington made amends as he came on to bowl in the next over, removing both Irfan Pathan (14) and Sehwag to reduce Delhi from a relatively comfortable 94/4 to 96/6.

Agarkar, who had earlier bowled beautifully, then came to the party and hit a couple of boundaries under pressure and his 11 not out proved to be priceless in the end. Needing 8 off the final over, Agarkar hit a cover drive off Rimmington and then took a single as Negi took the strike. Needing three from four balls, young Negi blasted Rimmington through the mid-wicket for a four.

While Morkel had the best figures of 3/19 in his four overs, credit should be given to Agarkar who bowled splendidly in the middle overs getting two wickets and giving away only 14 runs in the process.

Herschelle Gibbs got a six with a pull-shot off Irfan Pathan but was dismissed played-on when Morne Morkel climbed up a bit more than the batsman expected. The powerplay fetched Scorchers 34 runs but Shaun Marsh's initial struggle was there for all to see. It took him 25 balls to score the first 15 runs but then in the company of Katich, started growing in confidence.

... contd.

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