Thu, 05 May 2011 - IP Hyderabad vs IP Delhi, IPL 2011,46th Match - Bulletin

Viru is the Nawab of Hyderabad

Only two things stood out after today’s match, Virender Sehwag’s swashbuckling century under pressure and a series of missed chances in the field that could have cost both sides the match and in the end, Delhi were lucky to have won the match by 4 wickets. Delhi’s ropy performance in the field allowed Hyderabad to get to 175 and then the hosts returned the favour by dropping Sehwag a couple of times and the visitors in the end got across the line with ease.

Delhi’s reply however, got off the worst possible start, Aaron Finch edging the second ball of the first over- a booming Dale Steyn out-swinger to first slip. Two bowlers, Steyn and Ishant Sharma, who can hustle batsmen even on dead pitches made full use of brisk pace in the Uppal pitch to keep the lid on scoring for some time.

At the end of seven overs, Delhi had crawled to 32 losing three wickets in the process. However, there was hope in the form of Sehwag batting on 13 off 15 deliveries. The Hyderabad captain took a gamble by bowling newcomer Ishan Malhotra and the floodgates opened for Delhi. Sehwag then started inflicting violence on the hapless bowlers in mad thirty minutes, eight overs bleeding 117 runs with marauder Sehwag scoring a blistering century in the process that came off just 56 deliveries. Sehwag’s blitzkrieg was enough to ensure that Delhi had enough time to knock off the remaining runs after his dismissal with six balls remaining.

Hyderabad are now virtually out of contention for the last four and they learnt the age old saying that ‘catches win matches’ the hard way. Instead of Delhi, Hyderabad would be rejoicing after the match had two easy chances of Sehwag been taken by the fielders. The centurion was given lives when his individual score was 54 and 70 respectively and there was still time left for a Deccan comeback if he had been dismissed but that was not to be.

As bowlers all around the world know, Virender Sehwag on song and the bowling figures go for a toss. Only speedsters Ishant Sharma and Steyn had good looking bowling numbers, while as, leggie Amit Mishra conceded 53 runs in four hours.

Delhi however had only themselves to blame for letting Hyderabad post a mammoth total on the board. With the pitch offering plenty of bounce, chasing would be no mean task. A couple of dropped catches and two no-ball dismissals meant Delhi had given the opposition too many lives and a chance to run away with the match.

Hyderabad lost a wicket early when the pace and bounce in the pitch accounted for Ravi Teja, who opened in place of Sunny Sohal. Captain Kumar Sangakkara came in next and played a typical innings laced with some classy strokes. Even when he looked to attack, the stroke making never looked ugly. His 44 run knock was punctuated with eight boundaries including three in a single over from Morne Morkel. The South African was in action soon when he grasses an easy chance at short-fine leg, Sanga had made only 22 at this stage.

Once the Hyderabad captain departed, the scoring was taken over by JP Duminy who finally replaced the struggling Cameron White. Like his skipper, he was beneficiary of Delhi’s generosity in the field. Spinner Yogesh Nagar bowled the fifteenth over that cost 20 runs instead of the two wickets off no-balls including that of Duminy. Worse even, the subsequent free hits went for 10 runs, adding insult to injury indeed.

Duminy made Delhi pay by scoring 29 runs off the 11 balls after the no-ball dismissal to finally get with 55 runs to his name. He along with Daniel Christian added 71 runs for the fourth wicket and in the process, give his team an excellent opportunity to notch two crucial points.Sehwag has now ensured that his team’s chances are alive till the next match and the lesson for the opponents would be not to drop a catch from his bat.