Mishra's fiver script Delhi win
Amit Mishra registered the second hat-trick of the Indian Premier League as Delhi Daredevils staved off Deccan Chargers' audacious attempt to pull off an upset win, eking out a nervy 12-run victory and snapping their losing spree on Thursday night.
Chasing 195, the lowly Deccans, riding on a string of cameos, came close to the target before eventually folding up for 182 for nine.
Mishra removed Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh off successive balls in a dramatic last over to record the second hat-trick of the tournament. His final figures read 4-0-17-5.
Earlier, twin half-centuries from Gautam Gambhir (79) and Shikhar Dhawan (68 not out) powered Delhi Daredevils to an impressive 194 for 4.
Adam Gilchrist (14) and Shahid Afridi (33) walked in to spearhead the Deccan riposte and the swashbuckling duo seemed to be in a tremendous hurry to wrap things up. To make it worse for the hosts, Dinesh Karthik spilled an edge from Gilchrist off Mohammad Asif. Glenn McGrath, though, made up for the lapse in the third over by cutting short his former compatriot's stay.
There was, however, no dearth of firepower in the Deccan arsenal as Herschelle Gibbs (22), who came in next, decided to match Afridi shot for shot and smote McGrath for two sixes.
Click here for more cricket news..
Things looked quite ominous for the hosts at this stage. But the introduction of Mishra went on to do the trick. He struck with his very first ball as Afridi perished at point and, in his next over, the leggie sent down a googly which sneaked through Gibbs' defences, ending the South African's run-a-ball knock. Afridi's 14-ball sizzler included three four and two sixes.
Rohit Sharma (35) continued his rich vein of form, milking 19 runs off a Rajat Bhatia over, but a moment of madness and a fluffed paddle sweep brought about his downfall as a Ferveez Maharoof delivery rattled his timbers. His 18-ball cameo was studded with three fours and two sixes.
Scott Styris (29) and Y Venugopal Rao (34 off 18 balls) almost accomplished the mission before falling in quick succession and with their dismissal, Deccan's hopes for their third win in the tournament went up in smoke as the visitors lost wickets in a heap towards the end with Mishra emerging as the wrecker-in-chief.
Earlier put in to bat, the hosts lost skipper Virender Sehwag (0) in the first over, but Gambhir and Dhawan shared 133 runs in just over 14 overs to give the innings direction even though the hosts eventually fell shy of the 200-mark.
Special: Indian Premier League | Schedule, Results
Gambhir's 48-ball pyrotechnics was studded with seven hits to the fence and three sixes. Dhawan's sedate unbeaten knock spanned 52 balls and included eight boundaries.
The duo laid the perfect foundation for a late burst but Gambhir's dismissal, stumped off a wide ball from Pragyan Ojha, came as anti-climax. But with Farveez Maharoof (19 off 11) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (16 off 6 balls) weighing in with useful cameos, Delhi went on to end up with what proved a match-winning score.
No comments:
Post a Comment