IPL: Sam Billings, bowlers guide Delhi Daredevils to big win vs Kings XI Punjab

Sam Billings’ second fifty and an inspiring show from bowlers, led by Chris Morris, helped Delhi Daredevils wrap up an emphatic 51-run win over Kings XI Punjab in a 2017 Indian Premier League clash on Saturday

Amit Mishra’s words before the match proved prophetic as Delhi Daredevils’ bowling attack was the deciding factor for the hosts against Kings XI Punjab at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday night. (Highlights)

Sam Billings’ 55 helped Delhi Daredevils beat Kings XI Punjab by 51 runs to register their second successive win in IPL 2017. (BCCI)

Chris Morris took 3/23 and Shahbaz Nadeem and Pat Cummins contributed two wickets each as Daredevils defeated KXIP by 51 runs for their second successive victory. (Scorecard)

Mishra had told a pre-match press conference: “Our bowling attack is better than theirs and that will be a big plus for us on Saturday. The boys have bowled brilliantly till now, and if we can carry on like that, it will be really difficult to beat us.”

That was exactly the case at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium as the KXIP batsmen struggled to score runs against a disciplined DD attack and slumped to their second loss of the tournament.

That didn’t mean the Daredevils batsmen didn’t do their bit, piling up 188 for six with Sam Billings scoring 55 off 40 balls. In reply, Kings XI were restricted to 137 for nine.

It went from bad to worse for Kings XI Punjab when they lost Wriddhiman Saha and Hashim Amla in the span of eight balls. The early wickets did not allow KXIP to score runs quickly and it resulted in the required rate jumping.

Eoin Morgan and David Miller tried to bring the team back into the game with a 33-run partnership, but the burden of runs proved too much for Morgan as he was caught at backward point trying a lofted shot.

Maxwell was dismissed for a duck, caught by Sam Billings off Mishra, as KXIP lost their fifth wicket in the 11th over. Miller too did not last long and his innings (24 off 28 balls) came to an end when he was trapped leg before by all-rounder Corey Anderson, who had lashed an unbeaten 39 earlier.

Axar Patel (44 off 29 balls) did come up with some big shots towards the end, but it was too late as KXIP paid the price for a lack of proper partnerships.

Delhi Daredevils scored 188/6 thanks to a brilliant fifty from Sam Billings. This was the second Indian Premier League fifty for the England wicket-keeper batsman and his innings comprised nine boundaries. Billings was involved in a 53-run partnership with Sanju Samson for the first wicket and it give his team the perfect foundation to post a big total in their first home game.

However, the dismissal of Samson in the seventh over opened the floodgates as DD kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Shreyas Iyer (22) and Rishabh Pant (15) got starts, but were unable to convert them into a big score while Karun Nair fell for a duck.

Anderson (39 off 22 balls) and Pat Cummins (12 off 6 balls) came up with a late flourish to take them to a solid total.