Daredevils lose despite JP blinder

DESPITE the fighting efforts of JP Duminy, the Delhi Daredevils went down by 14 runs to the Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai last night.

The South African captain ­hammered 56 off 39 balls (3x4, 3x6), but he had too little support after the Royals had posted a target of 190 to win. It was a setback for Duminy’s team, who have yet to find the ­consistency to take them into the playoffs. They have lost five of their nine matches and remain in sixth place on the log.

In truth, the Daredevils were strangled by a brilliant spell of bowling by James Faulkner and Shane Watson. It was not so much the loss of Mayank Agarwal (11) and Shreyas Iyer (9) en route to 55 for two in the powerplay, but the fact they then garnered just 16 runs from the next five overs, while losing the important wicket of Yuvraj Singh (22), brilliantly caught by Stuart Binny on the boundary off Faulkner. After 11 overs, they were 72 for three and the run-rate required was then over 13.