Yes, this was the prelude – the first one – to the final showdown. I’m talking about the first semi-final between the Delhi Daredevils (DD) and the Deccan Chargers (DC).
Morales on both sides were high as the DC won the toss and decided to field first. Gautam Gambhir and David Warner opened batting for the DD, while Ryan Harris bowled the first over – and what an over it was! The first four balls of the over were dot balls, while the fifth and sixth ones saw the fall of a wicket each, that of Gambhir (catch R. P. Singh) – who got out on a duck –and Warner (catch Herschelle Gibbs) – who also got out on zero. The DD now stood at 0-2!
At the crease now were skipper Virender Sehwag (Viru) and T. N. Dilshan. After losing two wickets so quickly, one would’ve expected the DD to take it slow and steady, but not these two. Soon after stepping onto the field, they started hitting fours and sixes, and soon gained momentum. The two saw to it that the score steadily climbed higher and higher, until the Strategic Time Out, when the DD stood at 83-2. Immediately after the break, in the 11th over, however, the third wicket fell, thereby putting an end to a terrific partnership. The man to be dismissed was Viru, who got LBWed by Andrew Symonds after he’d made 39 runs off 31 balls.
AB de Villiers came in after Viru. He and Dilshan took up from where Viru left off, and Villiers soon started hitting boundaries too. However, he was dismissed by R. P. (catch Rob Quiney) after he made 26 runs off 21 balls. Dinesh Karthik came in next, but was bowled by Harris after making only nine runs. Rajat Bhatia was the next man in, but he, too, was dismissed by R. P. after making only four runs (catch Venugopal Rao). Next batsman in was Amit Mishra.
Dilshan, who had stayed on in the field till the end, was dropped twice – once when he was batting at 30, and the second time at 58 runs. However, he could not remain not out till the end, as, in the last over, he was run out by skipper of the DC, Adam Gilchrist (Gilly), when he was at 61 runs, which he had made off only 51 balls. Pradeep Sangwan came in next, but lost his wicket on the last ball. Thus, the DD ended at 153-8.
Gilly and Gibbs opened batting for the DC, while Dirk Nannes bowled the first over. While the DD had made no runs and lost two wickets in their very first over, the DC, on the other hand, faced a wide ball on the first delivery, followed by five fours in a row, all hit by Gilly. Thus, at the end of the first over, the DC stood at 21 runs! What’s more, thanks to all the big hits by Gilly, Gibbs never even got on strike in the first over!
The second over was bowled by Ashish Nehra, whose first ball was a wide, but the third claimed a wicket, that of Gibbs, whom he bowled out. Gibbs had not made even a single run. Azhar Bilakhia came in at one down. Pradeep Sangwan bowled the next over, which saw Gilly hit two fours and one six in it! Thereafter, Nehra took the ball, and delivered a No Ball, thus giving Gilly a Free Hit; like he even needed it! But Gilly said, “Thank you very much,” and hit a six off it anyway! As a result of these big hits, Gilly completed his sixth IPL 50 in just 17 balls! It was the fastest 50 in both seasons of the IPL, and the fifth fastest in all T20 forms.
Another time when Gilly got a Free Hit, was when Viru was bowling, and he delivered a No Ball on the ball which Gilly hit for a four. Thus, Gilly got four runs, plus six off the Free Hit, and then another six after that! In the meantime, Bilakhia got out after making 10 runs off 20 balls (ball Mishra, stumping Karthik). The seemingly unstoppable Gilly did get out, but not before he had caused irreparable damage by scoring a massive 85 runs of only 35 balls! He got out on the last ball of the 10th over on a ball by Mishra (catch Nannes).
Andrew Symonds came in next, and played well, until he too got out on a ball by Mishra (catch Warner) after he made 24 runs off 15 balls. Rohit Sharma came in next, and stayed on till the end and completed the match for the DC. Thus, the DC achieved the target of 154 and ended up as one of the two finalists of the IPL – season 2! The Man of the Match award, as well as the DLF Maximum award went to – like there’s any doubt! – Adam Gilchrist for his unearthly, but stupendous, performance with the bat!
Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab are all locked at 14 points each. The winner of the RCB-DC match on Thursday will go to 16 points and the loser will remain on 14 with Punjab. But in all likeliness, Punjab will lose out on the semifinal berth owing to their poor net run rate. Currently Deccan has the best run rate at +0.265, while RCB are at -0.253 and Punjab at -0.483.
So if there is any chance of Punjab making it to the semis it will have to be a thrashing for Bangalore at the hands of Chargers. But chances are very remote and let us see why. To qualify, Bangalore need to have a net run rate higher than -0.483 after tomorrow’s match. So, let us check some possibilities.
The calculations done here are rough and may not be accurate to decimals.
Case Scenario 1 – Chargers bat first
Chargers’ Score
For Punjab to qualify, Bangalore must score less than
100
32
120
52
140
72
160
92
180
112
Case Scenario 2 – Bangalore bat first
Bangalore’s Score
For Punjab to qualify, Chargers need to win in
100
11.0 overs or less
120
11.1 overs or less
140
11.2 overs or less
160
10.0 overs or less
180
10.1 overs or less
What do you think are Punjab’s chances of qualifying?
That’s right. The Delhi Daredevils (DD), who have lost hardly any matches this season – the ones they did lose being close ones – lost the match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who literally cruised to victory!
The DD won the toss and decided to bat first, their openers being the duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, while Praveen Kumar opened the bowling attack. Right from the word ‘go’, the action was on. After just one run on the board, Sehwag got out (catch Ross Taylor), and the DD stood at 1-1. Mithun Manhas replaced Sehwag, but he got out after two deliveries without making any runs (catch Jacques Kallis). The scoreboard now read 1-2. AB de Villiers came in next.
After losing two quick wickets, the DD tried to put up some runs on the board, but, in the sixth over, Gambhir got out on a ball by Kallis (catch Taylor) after making only 27 runs, thus putting an end to a fledgling partnership. Dinesh Karthik was the next man in, and at the end of 10 overs, the DD stood at 63-3. After the Strategic Time Out, however, immediately in the 11th over, the fourth wicket, that of Villiers, fell, as he was bowled out by Roelof vd Merwe after he had made 28 runs off 29 balls. Andrew McDonald, who was playing the first match of this season, came in next, but got out on a ball by Anil Kumble after making only three runs.
Yogesh Nagar was the next man to walk on to the field. He made a decent score of 20 runs off 20 balls, but then was caught out by Robin Uthappa on a ball by Kumble. Farveez Maharoof came in next. While Nagar’s wicket fell in the 17th over, the next wicket, i.e., the seventh wicket, that of Karthik, fell in the 18th over after he had made 31 runs off 29 balls (ball Kumar, catch Uthappa).
Daniel Vettori came in after Karthik’s dismissal, and was dropped by Uthappa in the 20th over. Not only that, but Uthappa also overthrew the ball, resulting in three extra runs for the DD. Thus, at the end of 20 overs, the DD made 134-7, with Maharoof and Vettori at 18 and four runs not out, respectively.
The RCB opened batting with Kallis and Uthappa, while Ashish Nehra opened bowling. However, in the very first over, Uthappa lost his wicket after making merely one run off five balls, as he was caught behind the wicket. Rahul Dravid came in next. Between them, Kallis and Dravid did build a partnership, but not too many runs had come off it. Finally, in the 13th over, the partnership was broken when Dravid got out. He had made 38 runs off 34 balls before he was caught and bowled by Nagar.
Ross Taylor came in next, and in the very same over, got a Free Hit. However, he managed to make only one run off it. Then, in the 15th over, Taylor got out on a ball by Nagar – which was caught by Vettori – after making 25 runs off only 12 balls. Mark Boucher was the next batsman in. In the second last over, Kallis got a Free Hit, off which he made just one run. However, during the course of his innings, he made a half century – his fifth in the IPL. Thanks to Kallis’s batting, not to mention the efforts of the RCB bowlers earlier, the team won the match by seven wickets, thus beating the (almost) invincible DD.
The DLF Maximum award was given to Ross Taylor, while Jacques Kallis was declared the Man of the Match for his brilliant half century. This win, while not changing the position of the DD on the ranks table, took the RCB to number four position.
Yes, this was match number 50 of the second season of the IPL! The Delhi Daredevils (DD) are not at the top of the ladder for nothing. Even though their position in the semis is fixed, they did not use it as an excuse to remain complacent against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
The toss was won by the DD, and they elected to bat first. Their openers were Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, while Munaf Patel bowled the first over. The first over was very eventful, because Patel gave two Free Hits in it. Luckily for the RR, however, no runs were scored off them. After a ‘happening’ first over, the third over was fruitful, because the first wicket of the DD fell, the batsman to depart being Gambhir. He got out on a ball (and catch) by Patel after making only eight runs. AB de Villiers came in after that.
The second wicket which fell was that of skipper Sehwag, who got out on a beauty of a ball by Patel (LBW) after making only two runs off eight balls. T. N. Dilshan came in after Sehwag’s departure. He was dropped at 16 runs (in the eighth over) by Amit Singh, while Johan Botha was bowling, but Botha was the one responsible for getting him out in the end, and Dilshan was bowled out after he had made 33 runs off 41 balls. Dinesh Karthik came in after Dilshan.
It was a lucky day for Villiers because not only did he complete his third IPL 50, but was also dropped by Rob Quiney in the 18th over. The RR paid heavily for this misfield when, in the 19th over, Villiers scored four runs off a Free Hit. The RR had bowled very well for a long time, but in the 19th over Munaf Patel undid all his good overs by bowling an extremely expensive one, consisting of one No Ball, one six, and two fours. Thus, at the end of 20 overs, the DD were at 150-3.
Graeme Smith and Rob Quiney opened batting for the RR, while Ashish Nehra did the same at the bowling end for the DD. The first wicket of the RR fell early on in the second over, when Smith got out on a ball by Dirk Nannes (catch A. Salvi) without having made even a single run. Naman Ojha came in at one down. Before the batsmen were allowed any breathing space, the second wicket fell; this time it was the other opener, Quiney, who fell prey to Nehra’s bowling (catch Nannes) and got out after making only six runs off 10 balls. Johan Botha came in after Quiney.
The third wicket, that of Ojha, fell on a ball by Salvi and the batsman was caught by Viru (Sehwag) after making nine runs. Ravindra Jadeja was the next man in. Jadeja and Botha had just started building a partnership, when the former was caught behind the wicket (ball Salvi) after having made 24 runs off 18 balls. Yusuf Pathan came in next, and while everybody was hoping that he’d lead the RR to victory, he got out after making only one run. Abhishek Raut came in after Pathan’s dismissal.
Botha was the sixth man to be sent back to the bench after he had made a good score of 37 runs off 31 balls (ball Farveez Maharoof, catch Viru). Shane Warne came in next. The seventh wicket was that of Raut, who was bowled out by Amit Mishra after he had made 11 runs off 13 balls. Amit Singh came in next, but he got out on the very next ball, and thus, Mishra was on a hat trick! Siddharth Trivedi came in next, and, instead of taking a wicket, Mishra bowled a No Ball, so Trivedi got a Free Hit, off which he scored one run, while Mishra missed his hat trick.
Warne’s was the ninth and last wicket of the innings, once again taken by Mishra (stumping Karthik). The captain made six runs off three balls before getting out. Munaf Patel came in at nine down. At the time of Warne’s departure, the RR scoreboard read 107-9. But, Munaf Patel started hitting fours and sixes as soon as he came in. While there was no hope of the RR winning the match in spite of this phenomenal – not to mention unique – display of batting, the difference between the required runs and the actual runs was considerably reduced. The DD must have hoped to get the RR all out, but instead, Patel stuck on and recorded the highest ever total for a batsman at number 11 position, both, in IPL season one, as well as two!
Thus, at the end of 20 overs, the RR ended at 136-9, courtesy Munaf Patel, and the DD won the match by 14 runs. Due to the KXIP winning the match which was played just before theirs, and subsequently their losing the match against the DD, the RR were pushed to number five spot on the rank table. Now, in order to get back into the top four, they will have to hope that both the other teams who can make it to the semis, namely Bangalore and Punjab, do not win their remaining matches, but this seems highly unlikely!
Yes, the match was won by the ‘kings’, and in a style befitting them, too! Match number 46 was played between the Delhi Daredevils (DD) and the King’s XI Punjab (KXIP).
The KXIP won the toss and elected to field first. There was a slight change in the team as Mahela Jayawardena was not playing; besides that, the teams on both sides remained the same. The terrific duo of skipper Virender Sehwag (Viru) and Gautam Gambhir opened the batting, while on the bowling attack was Brett Lee. The first over started well for the DD, as seven runs were scored off it, including one boundary (four). However, the third over was not as good, as the first blow came the way of the DD with the dismissal of Viru on a ball by Lee, which was caught behind the wicket. Viru had made nine runs off eight balls by then. T. N. Dilshan came in after that.
Just one run had been scored after Viru’s wicket, and the match was already in the fourth over, when the second opener, Gambhir, was dismissed by Wilkin Mota on a run out after the former had made eight runs off 11 balls. After Gambhir came AB de Villiers, who also didn’t stay too long and was sent back to the pavilion after he had made 11 runs off 11 balls (strike rate – 100). The bowler was Sreesanth, while the fielder was skipper Yuvraj Singh (Yuvi). Mithun Manhas came in thereafter.
The fourth wicket looked like it was a replay of the third, except that the batsman was different; this time, it was Dilshan who got out, the bowler and fielder being the same as that during the time of the second wicket. Dilshan had made 10 runs off 19 balls, and was dismissed in the 10th over. Dinesh Karthik came in at four down.
The fifth wicket was that of Manhas, who was caught by Piyush Chawla. Farveez Maharoof came in at five down, but was bowled out in the 17th over by Lee after making only three runs. It was a fantastic over for Lee, as he not only got a wicket in it, but also delivered a maiden over! Daniel Vettori came and left quickly after that, as did Rajat Bhatia, who left without scoring any runs, on the very next ball. Thus, Brett Lee was on a hat trick, but he was unable to take it as Pradeep Sangwan, who was the new man in, did not succumb to his superb bowling.
The ninth and final wicket was that of Karthik, and it fell in the 20th over. Thus, the DD ended at a very ‘gettable’ total of 121-9. To win, the KXIP required just over six runs per over, which basically meant they needed a run a ball. And with their batting line up, it looked like a piece of cake. But the DD were not at the top for nothing, and gave the Punjab team a run for their money.
The openers for the KXIP were Sunny Sohal and Simon Katich, while Ashish Nehra bowled the first over, off which only two runs were scored. The second over was a different story altogether, as the KXIP got a four, not due to their own efforts, but courtesy an overthrow by Dilshan! The first wicket of the KXIP fell on a ball by Maharoof, when Katich was caught behind the wicket after he had made 26 runs off 10 balls. Luke Pomersbach was the next man in.
The second wicket was that of the other opener, Sohal, who was bowled out after he had made merely three runs off 12 balls, thus proving to be quite expensive. Sanga came in at two down. The third big break for the DD came in the form of a wicket of Pomersbach, who got out after making only nine runs. He was followed by Yuvi, and at the end of 10 overs, with Sanga and Yuvi on the field, the KXIP were at 51-3.
However, the two, who can wreak havoc on the opposition, couldn’t build a partnership as Yuvi got out on a ball by Sangwan (catch Viru) after having made 18 runs off 31 balls, once again proving to be expensive.
Irfan Pathan was the next and last man to walk on to the field. All this while there had been a difference of at least seven to eight balls (more runs, less balls), but Pathan brought it down to a mere two-ball difference, and the KXIP needed 12 runs to win off 10 balls. In such a situation, while the bowlers were trying their best to give dot balls, Pathan hit a six, thus leading to the equation being reversed – now, the number of balls was more, and the runs required, less.
Then, when the KXIP needed two runs to win from six balls, Viru was seen giving instructions to the fielders, but to no avail – the first ball of the 20th over was hit for a four, and the KXIP not only managed to get the target, but also got it in style, thus winning the match by six wickets!
The DLF Maximum award was given to Irfan Pathan for hitting two sixes, while Brett Lee was declared the Man of the Match for his fantastic bowling.
