Cape Town: 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 here on Sunday.
After Delhi’s pace duo of Morne Morkel and Man-of-the-Match Agarkar restricted Perth to 121 for five in 20 overs, the Daredevils struggled despite Sehwag’s fifty, but finally reached the target in 19.3 overs.
“We haven’t played for a week, so it was good to get out and play a good game. We made a few mistakes, which nearly cost us the game. We didn’t handle a few situations well. We will have a chat, but our bowlers and fielders did really well,” skipper Mahela Jayawardene said.
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 ready to wait for the loose deliveries as he hit only four boundaries and a six.
The shot which brought up his half-century was a lucky shot when his upper cut slipped from Nathan Rimmington’s hands to go for a six.
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 for four to 96 for six.
Agarkar, who bowled beautifully, then came to the party with the bat and hit a couple of boundaries under pressure and his 11 not out proved to be priceless in the end. (PTI)
