It almost looked like yet another Albie Morkel show in the second match of the season. Needing a six of the last ball, Albie Morkel almost cleared the boundary rope. The Daredevils’ spinners almost put up a match winning performance. CSK almost had a batting collapse.
In the end, Delhi Daredevils lost the match by one run, extending their poor run to ten consecutive matches.
The early battle
The newly appointed Daredevils skipper J. P. Duminy won the battle at the toss. Having dropped experienced Indian seamers Mohammed Shami and Zaheer Khan, he opted to bowl first on a wicket that looked hard with a tinge of green on it.
On the other hand, returning to their own backyard after a gap of one year, the Super Kings hoped for a positive start from their openers. They did get one as Dwayne Smith made Albie Morkel concede 16 runs in the first over of the innings.
A lot was expected of the in-form New Zealand skipper, Brendon McCullum. But he failed to score big, top-edging a Coulter-Nile delivery, which was pouched safely by Yuvraj Singh.
Coulter-Nile sent Raina back to the pavilion after the latter missed a straight cross-seam delivery. Thereafter, Smith and Faf du Plessis made sure that the home team scored 59 runs of the first six overs. Both the batsmen played a range of eye-catching shots against the opening bowlers.
Meanwhile, bullet-maker turned bowler, Dominic Joseph, conceded 17 runs off his first two overs. Albie Morkel, too, failed to impress with his opening spell.
Wickets at regular intervals
DD leggie Imran Tahir, who had a wonderful World Cup campaign, was brought into the attack by the Delhi skipper immediately after the fielding restrictions were lifted. He conceded only six runs in his first over. The duo of Smith and Du Plessis were treated with more leg spin as Amit Mishra bowled from the other end.
Smith sent a short ball from Tahir straight into the throat of the deep midwicket fielder. Tahir provided DD the much required breakthrough as Smith looked confident at the crease. The run rate of the CSK innings dipped after Jadeja, who was sent ahead of Dhoni struggled to find the middle of the bat against the DD spinners.
Duminy brought himself into the attack and did more than a decent job as he managed to pick up the wicket of Faf du Plessis in the 13th over. Mishra grabbed his share of wickets when Jadeja misread a googly and got stumped. CSK at one stage looked like scoring around 180 but having lost a lot of wickets, had to rethink their target.
Two sixes off the last over
CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni waited until the last over to provide some firepower. Facing Coulter-Nile in the last over Dhoni did a Maxwell in the second ball of the over and got a six. He did a Viv Richards the next ball and got one more six. He did a gully cricketer in the third ball of the over and got out. But CSK managed to post only a modest total of 150 which looked well within reach.
The almost successful chase
DD excelled with the ball, and were expected to do the same with the bat. But things didn’t work their way in the first six overs. Veteran pace bowler Ashish Nehra – remember him? – who has done well for CSK in the last few seasons, stepped up once more. He knocked down the inexperienced top order by claiming three early wickets. Debutant Shreyas Iyer disappointed as he got out playing a rash shot off Nehra’s bowling.
Albie Morkel was sent in ahead of the Rs 16-crore-man Yuvraj Singh. He made great use of the opportunity by notching up a 48-run partnership with Kedar Jadhav. But Jadhav’s soft dismissal ended the threatening partnership. Still, Still, Morkel remained calm and composed at one end while wickets kept falling at the other end.
By the time Yuvraj Singh came in to bat, the asking rate had already climbed to nine and half runs an over. Bravo kept bowling short at him and eventually got his wicket, when Yuvraj skied one, which fell into the hands of Ishwar Pandey.
Ashwin bowled his four overs with excellent control and got the crucial wicket of Coulter-Nile. CSK will feel happy about their off-spinner’s performance in the match.
The captain fails
J. P. Duminy, the highest run-getter for DD in the last two seasons, spent very little time in the middle before he edged one onto the stumps. But Albie was still there at the crease, and was DD’s only hope. Needing 19 runs of the last six balls, an exhausted Morkel batted out of his skins to get the equation down to six runs of the last ball.
Bravo had bowled a poor last over. The last ball was once again bowled short and Morkel slapped it over the wide-cover region. The entire DD dugout stood at attention, only to see the ball land a few feet inside the rope.
Morkel played a blinder but couldn’t take his team past the line. Dhoni wore a relieved smile on his face at the end. Both teams had the chance to win comfortably. But it was CSK, the team that played the more positive cricket, that sneaked home.
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In the end, Delhi Daredevils lost the match by one run, extending their poor run to ten consecutive matches.
The early battle
The newly appointed Daredevils skipper J. P. Duminy won the battle at the toss. Having dropped experienced Indian seamers Mohammed Shami and Zaheer Khan, he opted to bowl first on a wicket that looked hard with a tinge of green on it.
On the other hand, returning to their own backyard after a gap of one year, the Super Kings hoped for a positive start from their openers. They did get one as Dwayne Smith made Albie Morkel concede 16 runs in the first over of the innings.
A lot was expected of the in-form New Zealand skipper, Brendon McCullum. But he failed to score big, top-edging a Coulter-Nile delivery, which was pouched safely by Yuvraj Singh.
Coulter-Nile sent Raina back to the pavilion after the latter missed a straight cross-seam delivery. Thereafter, Smith and Faf du Plessis made sure that the home team scored 59 runs of the first six overs. Both the batsmen played a range of eye-catching shots against the opening bowlers.
Meanwhile, bullet-maker turned bowler, Dominic Joseph, conceded 17 runs off his first two overs. Albie Morkel, too, failed to impress with his opening spell.
Wickets at regular intervals
DD leggie Imran Tahir, who had a wonderful World Cup campaign, was brought into the attack by the Delhi skipper immediately after the fielding restrictions were lifted. He conceded only six runs in his first over. The duo of Smith and Du Plessis were treated with more leg spin as Amit Mishra bowled from the other end.
Smith sent a short ball from Tahir straight into the throat of the deep midwicket fielder. Tahir provided DD the much required breakthrough as Smith looked confident at the crease. The run rate of the CSK innings dipped after Jadeja, who was sent ahead of Dhoni struggled to find the middle of the bat against the DD spinners.
Duminy brought himself into the attack and did more than a decent job as he managed to pick up the wicket of Faf du Plessis in the 13th over. Mishra grabbed his share of wickets when Jadeja misread a googly and got stumped. CSK at one stage looked like scoring around 180 but having lost a lot of wickets, had to rethink their target.
Two sixes off the last over
CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni waited until the last over to provide some firepower. Facing Coulter-Nile in the last over Dhoni did a Maxwell in the second ball of the over and got a six. He did a Viv Richards the next ball and got one more six. He did a gully cricketer in the third ball of the over and got out. But CSK managed to post only a modest total of 150 which looked well within reach.
The almost successful chase
DD excelled with the ball, and were expected to do the same with the bat. But things didn’t work their way in the first six overs. Veteran pace bowler Ashish Nehra – remember him? – who has done well for CSK in the last few seasons, stepped up once more. He knocked down the inexperienced top order by claiming three early wickets. Debutant Shreyas Iyer disappointed as he got out playing a rash shot off Nehra’s bowling.
Albie Morkel was sent in ahead of the Rs 16-crore-man Yuvraj Singh. He made great use of the opportunity by notching up a 48-run partnership with Kedar Jadhav. But Jadhav’s soft dismissal ended the threatening partnership. Still, Still, Morkel remained calm and composed at one end while wickets kept falling at the other end.
By the time Yuvraj Singh came in to bat, the asking rate had already climbed to nine and half runs an over. Bravo kept bowling short at him and eventually got his wicket, when Yuvraj skied one, which fell into the hands of Ishwar Pandey.
Ashwin bowled his four overs with excellent control and got the crucial wicket of Coulter-Nile. CSK will feel happy about their off-spinner’s performance in the match.
The captain fails
J. P. Duminy, the highest run-getter for DD in the last two seasons, spent very little time in the middle before he edged one onto the stumps. But Albie was still there at the crease, and was DD’s only hope. Needing 19 runs of the last six balls, an exhausted Morkel batted out of his skins to get the equation down to six runs of the last ball.
Bravo had bowled a poor last over. The last ball was once again bowled short and Morkel slapped it over the wide-cover region. The entire DD dugout stood at attention, only to see the ball land a few feet inside the rope.
Morkel played a blinder but couldn’t take his team past the line. Dhoni wore a relieved smile on his face at the end. Both teams had the chance to win comfortably. But it was CSK, the team that played the more positive cricket, that sneaked home.
