CAPE TOWN  - Delhi Daredevils beat Perth Scorchers by wickets in a thrilling encounter at Cape Town in the Group B clash of Champions League T20 2012 on Sunday.
Virender Sehwag was the star for Delhi Daredevils as he struck a 44-ball 55 – a knock that included four boundaries and a six. Apart from him, the rest of the strong batting line-up failed to provide any impetus to the Delhi innings. Sehwag was the only top-order batsman to reach the double-figure score.
Needing a win to keep their semi-final hopes alive, the Perth Scorchers struggled in the early contest between bat and ball, making a paltry 121-5 in 20 overs having been put into bat on a challenging wicket.
Shaun Marsh and Simon Katich contributed patchy 30s to lead the Scorchers' cause, while Morne Morkel and Ajit Agarkar shared the 5 wickets to fall between them, with exemplary economy rates to boot.
Delhi struggled in their chase, losing wickets at regular intervals to keep the game very much alive as a contest. Virender Sehwag played a cautious hand, contributing 52 to the Delhi cause, but fell at a crucial stage with Delhi still 26 shy of victory. Ajit Agarkar though proved to be the hero with the bat too, striking an unbeaten 11 from 7 balls to take Delhi over the line in the final over with 3 wickets to spare.
Mahela Jayawardene had no hesitation in putting the Scorchers in on another overcast day in Newlands, and the Delhi pace attack made the most of the conditions with Morne Morkel removing Herschelle Gibbs for 6 in just the second over.
Scorecard:
Perth Scorchers 121-5 (20 overs, 6.05rpo): S Marsh 39 (41) M Morkel 3-19
S Katich 34 (33) A Agarkar 2-14
Delhi Daredevils 123-7 (19.3 overs, 6.3rpo) V Sehwag 52 (44) M Beer 2-18
I Pathan 14 (18) J Meenie 2-21