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May 15, 2008
Mishra's
Hat-trick Puts Back Daredevils in Race
New Delhi
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra took a hat-trick as Delhi Daredevils ended
their losing streak with a 12-run victory over Deccan Chargers in a
thrilling Twenty20 match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here
Thursday.
Put into bat, Daredevils scored 194 for six with half centuries from
Gautam Gambhir (79) and Shikhar Dhawan (68 not out). In reply,
Mishra ran through the Deccan Chargers batting line-up and in the
last over took the second hat-trick of the IPL, after Chennai Super
Kings' Laxmipathy Balaji, to restrict the visitors at 182 for nine
in 20 overs.
Mishra who took five wickets for 17 was adjudged the Man of the
Match.
The much-needed win brought back Daredevils into the race for the
semi-final berth while Chargers are already out of it and are
fighting only to salvage some pride.
Chasing 195 was always going to be a tough task, and Chargers' ploy
of sending the explosive Shahid Afridi (33) to open the innings for
the first time in the league paid off.
The Pakistani increased the tempo of the game with his big hitting
and gave the visitors a brilliant start along with captain Adam
Gilchrist (14).
McGrath took on some pounding from the batsmen but was lucky to get
the wicket of his former Australia team-mate Gilchrist, who perished
to a brilliant diving catch taken by Tillakaratne Dilshan at
mid-off.
Gilchrist's dismissal brought big-hitter Herschelle Gibbs (22), who
along with Afridi tore the bowling apart. Even McGrath was not
spared as Gibbs hit the veteran for two sixes, one over extra cover
and the other over point. They brought 50 in just 4.1 overs.
It was Mishra who broke the deadly partnership and brought
Daredevils back into the match with his twin strikes. With his first
delivery he got rid of Afridi, whose mis-hit was pouched safely by
substitute AB de Villiers. Gibbs's stumps were rattled by a googly
from Mishra.
Rohit Sharma (35) sizzled for some overs, taking 19 runs off Rajat
Bhatia's one over but was clean bowled while trying a paddle sweep
off Farveez Mahroof.
Venugopal Rao (34) then hit some big strokes to bring the match
alive once again. He hit Mahroof for two sixes and one four in the
18th over and brought the equation to 25 runs required from last two
overs.
McGrath came back to take the crucial wicket of Rao, who skied the
ball to substitute Shoaib Malik.
With 15 runs needed in the last over, Sehwag showed faith in the
best bowler of the day - Mishra, who kept his nerves and took a
hat-trick: Teja, Pragyan Ojha and Rudra Pratap Singh were his
victims in the first three balls.
Earlier, Daredevils who were looking for an explosive start to the
innings were rocked by the loss of skipper Sehwag in the first over.
Sehwag got out in his typical fashion, trying to slash the sixth
delivery from Vijaykumar over third man only to find fielder Rudra
Pratap Singh.
Gambhir with his 79 off 48 then rose to the occasion to help
Daredevils post a challenging total. Gambhir and Dhawan's solid
second wicket stand of 133 runs in 14 overs made things difficult
for the Chargers.
The duo batted sensibly and picked the bad deliveries to score the
boundaries. It was not until the 13th over when Gambhir and Dhawan,
realising the urgency to lift the scoring rate, decided to go after
the bowling.
And Afridi was the hapless bowler at the other end. Gambhir charged
down the pitch for a straight six before Dhawan blasted two
boundaries.
Gambhir got a life when Rohit dropped a difficult chance while
running backwards in the mid-wicket.
Gilchrist perhaps made the mistake of bringing young left arm
spinner Ojha a shade too late.
Ojha first removed Gambhir with a clever piece of bowling. He read
Gambhir's attacking mindset and foxed him with a wide down the leg
side as he danced down the track in a rush of blood. The result was
a simple stumping for Gilchrist.
Delhi Daredevils:
Gautam Gambhir st Gilchrist b Ojha 79
Virendra Sehwag c Singh b Vijaykumar 0
Shikhar Dhawan not out 68
Ferveez Maharoof c Sharma b Ojha 19
Tillakaratne Dilshan run out (Gilchrist) 16
Manoj Tiwary not out 4
Extras (lb 3, w 5) 8
Total (for four wickets in 20 overs) 194
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Sehwag, 0.6 overs), 2-140 (Gambhir, 15.1),
3-166 (Maharoof, 17.4), 4-190 (Dilshan, 19.5)
Bowling:
Vijaykumar 4 0 24 1
Rudra Pratap Singh 4 0 50 0
Sarvesh Kumar 3 0 24 0
Scott Styris 4 0 33 0
Venugopal Rao 2 0 23 0
Shahid Afridi 1 0 18 0
Pragyan Ojha 2 0 19 2
Deccan Chargers:
Adam Gilchrist c Dilshan b McGrath 14
Shahid Afridi c sub (AB de Villiers) b Mishra 33
Herschelle Gibbs b Mishra 22
Rohit Sharma b Maharoof 35
Scott Styris c sub (AB de Villiers) b Maharoof 29
Venugopal Rao c sub (Shoaib Malik) b McGrath 34
Ravi Teja c sub (Shoaib Malik) b Mishra 9
Rudra Pratap Singh st Karthik b Mishra 1
Pragyan Ojha c Dilshan b Mishra 0
Paidikalva Vijaykumar not out 1
Sarvesh Kumar not out 1
Extras (lb 1, w 2) 3
Total (for nine wickets in 20 overs) 182
Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Gilchrist, 2.1 overs), 2-71 (Afridi, 6.1),
3-75 (Gibbs, 8.2), 4-114 (Sharma, 12.4), 5-154 (Styris, 17.3), 6-171
(Rao, 18.2), 7-180 (Teja, 19.1), 8-180 (Ojha, 19.2), 9-180 (Singh,
19.3)
Bowling:
Glenn McGrath 4 0 42 2
Mohammed Asif 4 0 51 0
Farveez Maharoof 4 0 39 2
Amit Mishra 4 0 17 5
Rajat Bhatia 4 0 32 0
Toss: Deccan Chargers, who chose to field
Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 12 runs
Man of the match: Amit Mishra (Delhi Daredevils)
Umpires: Brian Jerling (South Africa) and G.A. Pratapkumar (India)
TV umpire: Asad Rauf (Pakistan)
Match referee: Clive Lloyd (West Indies)
May 15, 2008
IANS | Top
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