Daniel Vettori sends Kings XI on a spin

Cape Town: Left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and skipper Virender Sehwag were the toast of Delhi Daredevils' 10-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab in the third game of the DLF Indian Premier League at Newlands on Sunday.

Following up on some great bowling effort by spinners Harbhajan Singh, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble on Saturday, Vettori put the skids on a marauding Kings XI Punjab line-up with figures of three for 15 in three overs after Karan Goel and Ravi Bopara sent their team off to a flying start with a 67-run stand in six overs. The team batting first lost its way as Vettori came back after the strategy break with wickets and Kings XI Punjab lost three men to run out dismissals and finished with 104 for seven in 12 overs.

Delhi Daredevils captain Sehwag led the chase with an unbeaten 38 off 16 balls (four fours and three sixes) to steer his team home after a spell of rain led to a revised target being set for his team. They were 24 in 1.5 overs when a rain break intervened and needed to get 54 runs in six overs. The winners got there with seven deliveries to spare -- and Gautam Gambhir had to do little more than enjoy himself from 22 yards away.

Vettori made two telling statements at Newlands on Sunday.

First, he claimed three wickets for just 15 runs in Delhi Daredevils’s facile victory over Kings XI Punjab and then simply said spinners would always have a role to play in DLF Indian Premier League games in South Africa.

“We have seen this in the three matches played so far. Shane Warne was fantastic and Anil Kumble showed the role a spinner can play even under these conditions,” said the left-arm spinner who was just following up on the trend Mumbai Indians’ Harbhajan Singh and Sanath Jayasuriya had started in the opening game on Saturday.

To say that the vastly-experienced Vettori played an important role in restricting Kings XI Punjab would be an understatement. Kings XI Punjab had got off to a scintillating start with Karan Goel and Ravi Bopara striking the ball all over the park but his three overs cost him just 15 runs and he picked up three wickets in the bargain.

Warne, Anil Kumble, Vettori, Harbhajan Singh and even Sanath Jayasuriya proved that their experience was invaluable and their contribution would count, especially on the spongy wickets, making light of theory that the pace and bounce of the tracks in South Africa would make the faster bowlers more critical elements.