Rajasthan Royals co-owner Shilpa Shetty flashed her crossed fingers before the start of the match of IPL 2009, her team members handed over RR flags to a few fans.
On the other side, the Delhi Daredevils team owners’ box was rather quiet before the start, only to get noisier when the umpires called play. Whistles were distributed to a section of the crowd and with every shot played the decibel level increased. Virender Sehwag started things off, hitting Dimitri Mascarenhas over square-leg.
The hoots swung according to the moments of the match. It was loudest when the ball was sent cracking to the advertisement boards; fluctuated up and down when there was a danger of losing a wicket, going rhythmically with the drum beats as the bowler walked to the top of his mark, and dead silent when a wicket fell.
The Daredevils’ 143 for 7 gave the Royals a tricky target. For the kind of form and the (poor) starts Royals have been getting in the tournament, the Daredevils had the edge. But Graeme Smith found an able ally in number seven Yusuf Pathan, who played yet another destructive innings and forced a drastic turnaround. Pathan’s sixes silenced the whistles in the crowd, handing the Daredevils their first defeat, by five wickets in this Indian Premier League.
Tags: Ipl 2009, Ipl live, Ipl results, Ipl schedule.
