Visakhapatnam: Delhi Daredevils (DD) worsened their chances of making it to the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs after going down to Rising Pune Supergiants by 19 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-marred tie at the VCA Stadium here on Tuesday.
Chasing a modest 122, Pune were off to a brisk start as openers Usman Khawaja (19) and Ajinkya Rahane (42) put on 31 runs off the first three overs before Chris Morris dismissed the Australian southpaw with a full ball to be caught by Shreyas Iyer at backward point.
Khawaja's dismissal brought in his former skipper George Bailey (8), who alongwith Rahane put on 26 runs for the second wicket before rain played spoilsport.
The hosts were 57/1 after 8.2 overs, 15 runs ahead of the par score, when rains disrupted the match.
Once the rains stopped, Rahane and Bailey returned to the crease only to add another 19 runs before rains once again stopped play with Pune on 76/1, still 19 runs ahead of the par score.
The match was finally called off as the downpour turned heavier with Pune getting over the line by 19 runs.
Earlier, medium pacer Ashok Dinda (3/20) and leg-spinner Adam Zampa (3/21) helped Pune restrict the Daredevils to 121 for six in their 20 overs.
Asked to bat, Delhi struggled as Dinda and Zampa continued their impressive performance to leave the visitors struggle for runs.
Karun Nair (41 off 43 deliveries) anchored Delhi's innings, while South African all-rounder Chris Morris made a quick-fire 38 in just 20 balls towards the end to help his side cross 120-run mark.
Delhi got off to a bad start, losing openers Quinton de Kock (2) and Shreyas Iyer (8) inside the five overs to Dinda. While left-hander de Kock was plumb in front of the stumps, Iyer attempted a bad pull as he was caught at deep square leg by Usman Khawaja.
Even though fellow seamers, Deepak Chahar (13/0) Irfan Pathan (17/0) and Thisara Perera (27/0) struck to their task and kept a tight line and length as Delhi struggled to up the slowish run rate.
Nair provided some calmness in the middle but the pressure exerted by the seamers followed by the spinners -- Zampa and Ravichandran Ashwin -- took toll on the rest of the batsmen.
Sanju Samson (10) was stumped by wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni off leg-spinner Zampa, while Rishabh Pant (4) was caught by Perera at long off in the bowling of off-spinner Ashwin as Delhi reeled at 62/4 in 13 overs.
Later, Nair also fell in trying to be overly inventive as his sweep missed the line off Zampa and kissed the front pad and the umpire did not hesitate to rule him out leg before wicket (LBW) -- with the score at 70/5 in 14.3 overs. Nair hit five fours.
Dinda returned to dismiss Jean-Paul Duminy (14) to put a check on Delhi's scoring even at the death.
Morris hit two sixes and a four in the final over bowled by Perera to help his side reach 121/6.
Brief scores: Delhi Daredevils: 121/6 (Karun Nair 41, Chris Morris 38; Ashok Dinda 3/20, Adam Zampa 3/21) vs Rising Pune Supergiants 76/1 (Ajinkya Rahane 42, Usman Khawaja 19, Chris Morris 1/12)
