How Daredevils broke their losing streak

If Delhi Daredevils were to avoid becoming the first team to lose 12 IPL matches in a row, they had to dismiss Virender Sehwag early. They didn't manage that, but they achieved what most bowling attacks all over the world have seldom been able to do: keep Sehwag quiet.

Playing against a team for whom he once was a marquee player, Sehwag spent 15 overs at the crease but he could score just 47 runs off 41 balls. His strike rate of 114.63 was barely acceptable for most of his Test knocks. Jokes apart, it was only the seventh time in his 99 IPL innings that Sehwag had a sub-115 strike rate for scores more than 20.

Though Sehwag played the odd release shot, for most of his innings the Daredevils bowlers bowled disciplined lines to him. They hardly offered him width, preventing his favourite cut shot.

At the end of the 13th over, Kings XI Punjab were 100 for 1. With Wriddhiman Saha scoring at will, Sehwag rotating the strike and the likes of David Miller, Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey to follow, Kings XI were set to make Daredevils chase 180-plus.

Then came the masterstroke by Daredevils captain JP Duminy. Despite each of his three pace bowlers having an over each, Duminy persisted with spin for the remaining seven overs. The move paid dividends as Duminy himself, Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir managed combined figures of 7-0-65-6 at the death. They wickets they took during the last segment of the innings turned out to be the difference between the two teams.

While Mishra started the wicket spree with a yorker to Saha, Tahir concluded on a perfect note by dismissing Bailey and Axar Patel off the last two balls of the innings.

Once Mayank Agarwal and Duminy, who finally promoted himself to No. 3, avoided an early collapse in Daredevils' chase, the fate of the match was more or less going to be decided in the 24 balls from Mitchell Johnson. Despite being one of the most fearsome bowlers with the new ball, Johnson has been used in the middle overs by Kings XI, after swing bowlers Sandeep Sharma and Anureet Singh opened the attack.

On Wednesday, Johnson was introduced in the sixth over and Duminy welcomed him with a flick through the on side for a four. He was taken off the attack, but once Duminy was run out in the eighth over and Yuvraj Singh took guard, the captain George Bailey was quick to throw the ball back to Johnson.

Johnson has consistently pestered Yuvraj with his short balls over the last two years, but the batsman first flicked a shorter delivery to the fine-leg boundary before leaving what was easily the ball of the day - a bouncer pitched on a perfect line and rising all the way through - in the same over. In the next over, however, Yuvraj got the better of Johnson, hitting a couple of sweetly-timed boundaries. To compound Johnson's misery Agarwal hooked him for a towering six in his final over. That six made sure Daredevils were in a position as good as match point.

The young opener had to justify his promise. The seasoned left-hander had to justify his price tag. Agarwal and Yuvraj managed to achieve their individual objectives, thus helping their team reach its preliminary goal of breaking the losing streak.

Agarwal has a reputation of throwing away a rapid start. As a result, he hasn't cemented his place in any format in domestic cricket. On Wednesday, however, he played a near-perfect T20 innings. A quick start, followed by sensible batting in the middle overs, and then accelerating when the asking rate had started to get closer to 10.

Similarly, Yuvraj, who finally had time to get his eye in for Daredevils, shifted gears without any hassles to put his new team on the brink of a much-needed win. He had helped Pune Warriors end their 11-match losing streak with an immaculate bowling performance against Rajasthan Royals at the same venue two years ago. He did it with the bat this time to ensure Daredevils didn't slump to an unwanted IPL record.