Seamers Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav bowled a superb final two overs and guided Delhi Daredevils to a thrilling one-run Indian Premier League (IPL) victory over Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.
Mumbai Indians defeated bottom-placed Deccan Chargers by five wickets in a low-scoring affair in Sunday’s other clash.
Ajinkya Rahana smashed an unbeaten 84 off 63 balls but, with two runs needed off the last ball, he missed Yadav’s delivery as Owais Shah was run out and Rajasthan ended up at 3-151.
Morkel brought the Daredevils back into the hunt when the Royals needed 15 off the last 12 balls.
He conceded only three runs in the 19th over and also dismissed dangerman, Australian Brad Hodge, for 22.
The Daredevils made 6-152 with captain Virender Sehwag scoring his fourth successive half century before being dismissed for 63 off 39 balls.
Rahana sliced Yadav over point boundary for a six in the last over and brought down the target to two off the last ball before missing the last delivery.
Royals captain Rahul Dravid (40) and Rahana had all but sealed the game when they put on 99 runs for the opening stand in 70 balls.
Hodge also made a quick 22 off 18 deliveries before Morkel, who is the leading wicket-taker in IPL with 18, bowled a pinpoint accurate over.
Earlier, the Daredevils lost their way after Sehwag was brilliantly held in the deep by Ashok Menaria before Yogesh Nagar (27) and Irfan Pathan collected 20 runs in seamer Amit Singh’s last over of the innings that lifted the home team’s score.
The Daredevils are on top with 14 points after winning seven of their nine matches. The Royals are in fifth place with eight points after winning four and losing five matches.
In Mumbai, Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga chipped in with 4-16 to bowl out the Chargers for 100 in 18.4 overs.
Shikhar Dhawan top-scored for the Chargers with 29 and South African JP Duminy remained unbeaten on 25 as Malinga brought the innings to a close with the last three wickets in five deliveries.
Mumbai had some anxious moments in a tricky run chase when South African Richard Levi was bowled by countryman Dale Steyn off the very first ball.
Steyn bowled at a good pace to grab 2-10 off his four overs, but Rohit Sharma made 42 and Ambati Rayudu scored an unbeaten 19 to see the home team through to 5-101 in 18.1 overs.
The victory lifted Mumbai to third on the table with 10 points from five wins and four losses, while the Chargers have only three points after eight games.
