Pune Warriors 5-172 (Aaron Finch 52, Luke Wright 44, Siddarth Kaul 2-27) beat Delhi Daredevils 9-134 (Muralidharen Gautam 30, Irfan Pathan 24, Ali Murtaza 3-15) by 38 runs.

The hopeless performance of Delhi Daredevils continued in the IPL 2013, when Pune Warriors clinched the game and went one step ahead of them on the table.

Pune Warriors amassed 172 runs with half of their side back in the dressing room in the allotted 20 overs and Delhi Daredevils scored 134 for the loss of 9 wickets.

Luke Wright (Pune Warriors) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his sizzling knock of 44 off 23.

The 71^st game of the Indian Premier League was played on Sunday, May 19, 2013, at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, Pune.

Earlier, Aaron Finch, the captain of Pune Warriors, won the toss and walked in to bat along with Robin Uthappa. They flew off well by scoring 37 runs in the first five overs with 1 six and 4 fours. Uthappa was caught by David Warner at point off Umesh Yadav for 24 off 20 with 3 fours. Manish Pandey took guards next and hit the second six of the innings in the seventh over and Finch dispatched 2 sixes and 1 four two overs later. The second wicket fell at 74 when Pandey was gone for 10 and Aaron Finch smashed his fifty in the 12^th over. The latter was caught by Virender Sehwag at square leg off Siddarth Kaul for 52 from 34 with 4 towering sixes and 3 fours.

Yuvraj Singh became the next victim after scoring three runs as Angelo Mathews and Luke Wright got together in the park. The run rate was picked up by the two batsmen with the assistance of regular boundaries. Wright hit 2 back to back fours in the 18^th over and hit another six and a couple of fours in the next one. Mathews got a six in the same over but was dropped on the last ball at 27. Luke Wright lost his wicket for 44 off just 23 deliveries with 1 six and 7 fours on the fourth ball of the final over. Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten for 30 off 22 with 2 sixes as Pune Warriors hammered 172 for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs.

Siddarth Kaul was the top wicket taker with two whereas Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav and Shahbaz Nadeem picked up one wicket each.

Delhi Daredevils lost their first wicket at 17 when Bharat Chipli joined in with his skipper Mahela Jayawardene. They gathered 16 runs in the third over with 1 six and 1 four but Jayawardene was caught by Wright off Ali Murtaza for 14. Virender Sehwag dropped in next, hit 2 fours in the coming overs but managed just 11 runs and Chipli followed him next after scoring 16 runs. The visitors were struggling at 5-64 in 9.4 overs when Irfan Pathan and Muralidharen Gautam associated in the center.

The duo kept the score board moving and the hundred of the innings was displayed on board in the 14^th over. They took the score to 118 in 16.4 overs as Gautam was caught by Raiphi Gomez for 30 off 23 with 1 six and 2 fours. Irfan Pathan was the 8^th batsman who went back to the pavilion for 24 off 28 with 2 fours as Delhi Daredevils reached 134 with one wicket left in the required quota of overs.

Ali Murtaza and Angelo Mathews were the main wicket takers with three wickets each, Ashok Dinda held two whereas Wayne Parnell got one wicket.

Pune Warriors won the encounter with a reasonable margin of 38 runs and recovered from the bottom position.

The present standing of the two teams in the tournament is as follows:

Pune Warriors – 8 points from 16 games – 8^th position.

Delhi Daredevils – 6 points from 16 games – 9^th position.