Mishra hat-trick seals win for Delhi
Amit Mishra bowled the second hat-trick of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) and helped his team Delhi Daredevils to its fifth win of the Twenty20 tournament. In Match 37 played at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, the home team led by Virender Sehwag defeated the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers by 12 runs.
In the last outing when these two sides locked horns, Sehwag was in swashbuckling form slamming 94 runs off just 41 balls to secure a 9-wicket win for Delhi. This time around, Adam Gilchrist, the captain of the Deccan Chargers, won the toss and elected to field.
Sehwag was not given a chance to repeat his heroics and was out for a duck in the first over itself. However, Gautam Gambhir continued to prove why he is the ‘King of Twenty20’ as he slammed a 48-ball 79. He put on a 133-run second wicket partnership with the in-form Shikhar Dhawan.
Gambhir, who is the proud owner of the ‘Orange Cap’ for most cumulative runs in the tournament so far, became the first IPL batsman to cross 400 runs but lost his wicket in the sixteenth over. Dhawan continued playing with poise and ended up with an unbeaten 68 to take Delhi to a commanding total of 194/4 in their 20 overs.
Young Pragyan Ojha was the pick of the Hyderabad bowlers picking up two wickets for 19 runs.
As the Chargers walked in to chase the Delhi target, Shahid Afridi was promoted to open the innings along with Adam Gilchrist, was a move that should have been implemented long ago. Unfortunately, Gilchrist – the fastest centurion in the IPL – departed in the third over for 14.
Afridi was then joined by South African Herschelle Gibbs, another batsman yet to prove his worth in the League. The duo combined forces and plundered runs at will, getting the big hits for boundaries and sixes. Gibbs even hit Glenn McGrath for two sixes in the same over. The two batsmen looked on song and all set to chase down the formidable total.
But a change of pace resulted in a change of fortunes for the Hyderabad franchise. In an inspired moment, Sehwag bought in leg spinner Amit Mishra to bowl the seventh over of the match when the score was 71, with Afridi and Gibbs preparing themselves for good knocks.
Mishra’s first ball saw Afridi (33) play an ambitious shot, miss and perish. In his next over, the young leggie returned with even more vigour and dismissed Gibbs’ (22), bowling him through his defence.
Rohit Sharma (35) then walked in to show just why he is rated so highly in the Twenty20 format. The third highest run-getter in the IPL displayed some brilliant stroke-play. At the other end, he found an able ally in Scott Styris (29).
But the Delhi bowlers never gave any of the Hyderabad batsmen a chance to settle down and convert their starts into big scores. Once again, Venugopal Rao (34 off 18) played a cameo but even he did not last long.
The match went down to the wire and with 15 runs required off the final over, it was a do-or-die situation for the Deccan Chargers. Sehwag entrusted Mishra to bowl the crucial over and the young spinner obliged by picking up three Hyderabad wickets in three balls.
Dwaraka Ravi Teja and Pragyan Ojha fell off successive deliveries and that brought RP Singh to the crease. 15 were still required off four balls.
RP Singh went down the pitch choosing to go for the target rather than stop the hat-trick. The ball missed the bat inches away from his wild swing and it was too late for him to ground his bat in time. Wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik had already dislodged the stumps.
After Lakshmipathy Balaji of the Chennai Super Kings, the second hat-trick number of the IPL went to Amit Mishra.
With three balls left, the tail-enders proved no match for Mishra’s guile. The spinner ended up winning the Player of the Match award for his brilliant 4-over bowling spell with figures of 5 for 17 and the Delhi Daredevils won by 12 runs.
This is Hyderabad’s eighth loss out of ten games in the tournament which almost completely ruins their chances to make it to the next round. Delhi have won five off their ten and are still in the hunt for a spot in the final four.
The action now shifts to the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai where two resurgent sides, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders will face each other in Match 38 of the IPL. With both teams on winning streaks and the great ‘Sachin-Shoaib’ battle brewing on the cards, this one promises to be a cracker.