Sat, 30 Apr 2011 - IP Kochi vs IP Delhi, IPL 2011, 36th Match - Bulletin

Sehwag masterclass scripts comeback win

Delhi stationed at bottom of the IPL points table finally had something to cheer about when they defeated Kochi by 37 runs at Nehru Stadium, Kochi. Riding on their skipper Virendar Sehwag’s brilliant 80 on a pitch which saw some deliveries not bouncing even in an inch, Delhi bowlers made most of the slow surface to have home team all-out for 119.

Chase was always going to be difficult on the pitch and the way Kochi started didn’t make it any easier Morne Morkel and Irfan Pathan reduced home team to 27 for three.Martin Klinger was caught brilliantly by Vander Merwe off Morkel, Irfan had Brendon McCullum and Parthiv Patel both clean bowled thanks to the ball not bouncing much on both the occasions.

Things went from bad to worse, when skipper Mahela Jayawardene chipped one to Sehwag to bring an end to patient 28-ball stay for 18. There was some fight from Brad Hodge and Ruvindu Jadeja but it ended soon when big Morkel found an edge off former Australian middle order batsman. Agarkar came back to remove Jadeja who looked very fluent and timed the ball nicely in his 22-ball 33.

Not much was left behind after Hodge and Jadeja dismissal and Kochi batsmen didn’t offer any resistance either losing last four wickets for just one run Merwe claiming three of them with his left arm spin.

Morkel who was only one to get the ball to lift on Kochi’s slowish for surface conceding only 18 runs in his four overs.

Earlier Virendar Sehwag’s masterclass innings took visitors to 157 after struggling at 60 for three at the end of twelve overs. It wasn’t all attack innings from the Delhi skipper who combined all his experience and hitting abilities to give side a match winning total on a pitch that wasn’t conducive for stroke making.

Delhi hadn’t had a encouraging start to the proceeding losing opener David Warner and Naman Ojha in the second over of the match bowled by local boy Sreesanth. Both the wickets came largely due to ball not bouncing much after pitching.

Sehwag however didn’t struggle for timing playing a couple of square drives and flick shots to get the innings away. Delhi were jolted further when Jadeja removed Venugopal Rao forcing Sehwag and young Yogesh Nagar to go in rebuilding mode.

With score going nowhere at 60 for three at the end of twelve overs, Sehwag, batting at a strike rate under 100, decided to get a move on and started to deal primarily in sixes and boundaries. He looted two sixes in 13th over bowled by Jadeja, nothing much in 14th, six and a four in 15th off Vinay Kumar, six and two fours in 16th off Akhil, six and four off Romesh Powar in the next over before holed out to Kumar to bring an end to one of the best IPL innings this season. Sehwag was so dominating in later part of his innings that his last 49 runs came off just 15 balls.

The most incredible shot of his 47-ball stay came off Jadeja when Delhi dasher he used vertical bat to deposit a short ball to straightish deep mid-wicket stands. The short just reminded people what Sehwag is all about and can he do when on song. Such was the determination that when Nagar was run-out in 15th over due to a lazy piece of running by youngster, Sehwag threw his bat away at non-striker’s end in anger.

Travis Birt (20 off 13 balls) and Irfan Pathan provided the late innings charge to take the score over 150-mark that, in the end, proved too much for Kochi to chase.