By Bharat Sharma
New Delhi, May 3 (IANS): Kochi Tuskers bounced back in two days to outplay Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets in their away match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Monday.
Both the teams badly needed a win to stay in contention in the tournament but it was the Tuskers who rose to the occasion and recorded their first win in four matches.
The visitors first restricted the Daredevils to 140 for six on a good batting surface and chased down the target in only 15 overs. Brendon McCullum provided the explosive start, slamming 37 off 19 balls while Parthiv Patel (37 not out) and Brad Hodge (24 not out) completed the chase.
Prasanth Parameswaran (2-29), who had played only six first class games before making his IPL debut with the Tuskers Monday, was the pick of the bowlers. His two-wicket haul included the prized scalp of opposition captain Virender Sehwag (15).
Tuskers, who suffered a 38-run defeat to Daredevils in their home game Saturday, now have eight points from nine matches and are at sixth place in the points table. Things look tougher for Daredevils after their fifth loss at home in six attempts. They are eighth in the table after nine matches and will now need to win all their five remaining games to advance through to the next stage.
The Tuskers found home away from home a wicket that was prepared to suit the Daredevils. After bowling well on a true surface, the Tuskers raced to 61 in the first five overs of their chase. They stuttered in the next five as they lost three wickets for 29 runs. But Hodge and Patel made sure that there were no further blips.
The Daredevils, put in to bat, suffered a major blow in the second over as little known Parameswaran sent Sehwag packing off the third ball of his spell. The dangerous opener, after hitting Paremeswaran for a six off his very first ball, edged a wide one to be ccaught behind by Patil.
The Delhi franchise has so far relied heavily on the opening pair of Sehwag and Warner (13) for winning their games but that ended when the latter mistimed a pull off a skiddy S. Sreesanth (1-24) delivery. And when Naman Ojha (13) was was caught behind off R.P. Singh, the home side was left reeling at 43 for three in the seventh over.
Venugopal Rao (40) and Yogesh Nagar (18) forged a 54-run stand for the fourth wicket but expectedly the run rate took a beating while resurrecting the ship and they departed while trying to increase the scoring rate.
Travis Birt (27) provided a late flourish with some innovative stokes and took the team to a respectable total but victory still eluded the Daredevils.