New Delhi: Zaheer Khan made an impressive comeback from a year-long hiatus complementing Nathan Coulter-Nile brilliantly as Delhi Daredevils spanked Kings XI Punjab by 9 wickets in an Indian Premier League cricket tournament match, here on Friday. Chasing a paltry target of 119, Daredevils romped home with 6.1 overs to spare as openers Mayank Agarwal (52 not out) and Shreyas Iyer (54) put on a comfortable 106-run partnership for the first wicket to seal the issue in style.
The home team could not have asked for a better performance from their bowlers in their last home match as they restricted Punjab to 118 for eight after winning the toss.
Coming into bowl in a competitive match after 363 days, Zaheer removed Virender Sehwag (1) off the second ball and Manan Vohra (1) in his very next over as he finished with figures of 2/17 from four overs.
After Zaheer blew the top two away, Coulter-Nile caused a lot of damage in the middle and lower order with figures of 4/20 in four overs as it deservingly earned him man-of-the match award.
There was not much KXIP could have done after putting on board such a total and Delhi easily crossed the finishing line without much fuss. (PTI)
Kings XI Punjab Innings
Virender Sehwag c Angelo Mathews b Zaheer Khan 1
Manan Vohra c Kedar Jadhav b Zaheer Khan 1
Shaun Marsh lbw JP Duminy 5
Wriddhiman Saha c Kedar Jadhav b Nathan 3
David Miller c Saurabh Tiwary b Nathan 42
George Bailey lbw Amit Mishra 18
Thisara Perera c Saurabh Tiwary b Nathan 3
Axar Patel c Mayank Agarwal b Nathan 22
Shardul Thakur not out 7
Anureet Singh Not Out 8
Extra 8
Total 118/8
Delhi Daredevils Innings
Mayank Agarwal not out 52
Shreyas Iyer c Axar Patel b Shardul Thakur 54
Saurabh Tiwary not out 5
Extra 8
Total 119/1