Khawaja starts IPL with a win

The match in a tweet: Pune capitalise on Delhi changes as Rahane leads the way, giving Aussie trio a winning start

The Aussie pack: Usman Khawaja (30 off 27) - or 'Khwaja' according to his playing shirt - played his first ever IPL game, Scott Boland (2-31) played just his second and playing for his third IPL franchise, George Bailey made his maiden appearance as the Supergiants finally regained the balance they had lost due to umpteen injuries. The Tasmanian wasn't required to bat for his new side as his countrymen impressed in a solid win.

The Delhi experiment: The Daredevils have a history of changing their combinations and they were at it again tonight, ringing in four changes from the winning side in Rajkot. Zaheer Khan sat out with a niggle and JP Duminy led in his place, with Quinton de Kock, Chris Morris and Shahbaz Nadeem missing out as well. It was surprising, given that all of them had played vital roles in the win against Gujarat Lions, and only one of four carried a niggle. And Pune made use of the inexperience in the Delhi top-order, not allowing Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson (20 off 17) to get off to a quick start. The latter did put on 35 off 20 with Karun Nair (32 off 23) as the Power Play yielded 2-48, before Nair departed in the 10th over to leave the score at a desperate 3-69 at the halfway stage.

Quick Single: 'Khwaja' gets unexpected IPL welcome

The hairy moment: When young Karun Nair went for a big shot against Ashok Dinda (1-34) off the last ball in the fifth over, he could only watch as he lost grip of his bat to send it flying towards umpire C Shamsuddin at square leg, falling just short. Thankfully for Umpire Shamsuddin he was unscathed and he may have been wishing that - like his colleague Bruce Oxenford - he was wielding a new protective shield.

The push: Nair’s dismissal brought Sam Billings (24 off 15) and Duminy (34 off 32) together, and the duo put on 45 off 30. The Englishman started the fireworks ahead of some big hitting at the death, smacking two successive sixes off R Ashwin (0-34) in the 13th over, taking 15 off him. But Delhi would have wanted him to carry on a bit longer; he couldn’t make his switch-hit work and was caught in the deep off the bowling of Rajat Bhatia (2-22). It was all down to Carlos Brathwaite from that point and he didn’t disappoint the capacity Kotla crowd, who were watching their last game of the season. He hit sixes off the third, fifth and seventh deliveries faced, smacking a quick-fire 20 off 8. But the Daredevils then lost him, Duminy and Jayant Yadav for a total of six runs, which was the difference between reaching 180 and finishing on 8-162.   

Khawaja’s lives: On his IPL debut, much was expected off Khawaja and he gave a good account of his abilities with 30 off 27. In doing so, he put on 59 for the opening wicket with Ajinkya Rahane and gave his side a solid start. However, he also survived as many as four chances - dropped by Brathwaite in the deep on eight, a missed run-out on nine, another on 22, and a botched stumping by stand-in keeper Samson on 27. 

The hero: A lot has been said about Rahane’s scoring abilities in the T20 format, but he does a job for the team. In Delhi, faced with a par target, he held the innings together even as Khawaja and Saurabh Tiwary (21 off 18) were dismissed after getting starts. He duly scored 50 off 38, his fifth half-century this season, and countered Delhi’s biggest threat of spin. Yadav (0-25), Amit Mishra (1-28) and Imran Tahir (2-26) challenged his partners, but not him, as he took 28 off the three spinners.

The catch: Rahane's partnership of 42 off 29 with MS Dhoni laid the foundation for the win. The skipper was in formidable touch, smacking 27 off 20 and putting up his usual flourish at the end until a brilliant running/rolling catch from Billings at midwicket sent him back in the 19th over. But Rahane was resolute in seeing his side to the finish line with five deliveries to spare as Thisara Perera (14* off 5) provided the finishing touch.   

The wash-up: With only their third defeat in eight matches, the Daredevils maintained third spot on the table despite the loss. They are still just two points behind toppers Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Lions, with a game in hand on them as well. Alternately, the Supergiants finally won after two consecutive losses and maintained their sixth position with as many points. However, they will be pleased at the reinforcements coming in and this could be the start of their revival. 

The next stop: Done with their season’s quota of matches in Delhi, the Daredevils will drive up to Mohali next and will play Kings XI Punjab on Saturday evening. Meanwhile, the Supergiants will travel to Bangalore and take on the Royal Challengers in the afternoon clash on the same day.