Gilchrist's Captaincy made the difference, says Afridi!

The Pakistani all rounder and dashing batsmen Shahid Afridi has said that the change in Hyderbad's Decccan Chargers has made a big difference this year.

Last year, DC was positioned 7th out of the 8 positions and Royal Challengers ended at 8th. These two teams clashed for the 2009 title in South Africa on May 24th.

DC beat RC by 6 runs in the last over thriller. The match was in the hands of Bangalore until Symonds took 2 wickets in an over to turn the match towards Hyderabad.

Last year, Afridi made a controversial comment about change in the captaincy after DC lost most of the games. He said, Gilly should take over the captaincy from VVS Laxman. This created a panic in the team but he latter clarified that the statement was not made to insult Laxman. He said, Laxman is the best test player but his captaincy was not aggressive for T20 format.

"People misunderstood what I wanted to say. I never meant any disrespect to Laxman who is a top Test player. But I just felt that his captaincy was not aggressive enough for T20 cricket. Laxman's captaincy was one of the reasons for the team not doing well in the first year. One can see the difference that Gilchrist brought to the team as captain."

He also appreciated Gilchrist's captaincy and said that he is one of the best captains he has seen.

"Gilchrist is one of the best captains I have seen. He leads from the front. He is strong enough to take sensible and aggressive decisions in pressure situations and his backing of the younger players was very impressive. This was more or less the same team that played last year. But the captaincy made a big difference to the team."

People can talk several things after the completion of an activitiy, but they keep mum until it happens. In this case, Afridi has said about switching over captaincy a year ago and has proved that he is right about it!

Match 37: Delhi Daredevils Win! Mishra takes Hat-Trick!

The second hat-trick of the IPL was taken by Mishra off Delhi Daredevils. The last over needed 15 for Hyderabad Deccan Chargers with 4 wickets in hand. Virendra Sehwag once again showed his belief in the spinners and this time he gave it to Amit Mishra.

Ravi Teja was caught at the long off boundary by Shoaib Malik of the first ball;
Ohja was caught at covers by Sehwas when he tried to slog;

RP Singh was stumped by Karthik, trying to come down the track and the ball was pitched short and kept low, where Dinesh Karthik did the rest;

Fourth ball was again a stumpin gchance to remove Sarvesh Kumar, but Karthik missed it to give four in a row to Mishra;

The remaining two balls went for a single and Mishra gave 12 run victory to Delhi Daredevils, keeping them in the tournament.

Man of the Match List

Points Table

Earlier, put into bat, Delhi lost the captain and dangerous batsman Virendra Sehwag in the first over last ball, caught at third man for a second duck.

But, Gambhir and Dhawan did not stop scoring the runs at 8 runs per over in the power play. At the end of 6 overs, Delhi were 48 for 1. Gambhir struck two continuous sixes and a four four of RP Singh. This really showed that despite losing the wicket of Sehwag, the team was going against the bowlers.

They both played sensibly and were picking ones and twos and fours in the bad balls. At the end of 10 overs, Delhi were 76 for 1 with Gambhir batting on 44 and Dhawan on 28.

Gambhir reached his 50 in 34 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.

Gambhir hit 2 fours in the 13th over bowled by Sarvesh Kumar and in the 14th over bowled by Afridi costed 18 runs to the Deccan Chargers. Gambhir hit a 2 and a six and then Dhawan hit 2 fours and reached his 50 in 37 balls with 7 fours.

End of 15 overs, Delhi were 138 for 1. With 9 more wickets in hand, there was a high chance that they can go beyond 200.

Gambhir got out in the 2nd ball of the 16th over. He came down the track off Ojha, and left the ball pitched on the leg stump. Though it was called a wide, Gilchrist stumped him out for 79 off 48 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes.

Maharoof hit two sixes--one in RP Singh's over and then in Ojha's over. He was caught by Sharma off Ojha for 19 in 11 balls with 2 sixes.

Dilshan hit a four of the last ball of the 18th over to take the score to 171 for 3. Vijaykumar bowled a very good 19th over and he gave just 9 runs including a six over square leg.

The last over bowled by RP Singh helped Delhi to add 14 runs including two fours. Dilshan was out in the fifth ball, run out by Gilchrist for 16 off 6 balls with 2 fours and a six.

Delhi ended with 194 for 4 in 20 overs. Vijaykumar was the pick of the bowlers with 1 for 24 of 4 overs.

Afridi opened the innings for the first time in this IPL. At least he has been given a chance to play the full quota. He proved that he is worth opening the innings.

Gilchrist and Afridi hit a four each in the first over bowled by McGrath. Prbably, the only match were he gave 10 runs in the first over. The 2nd over bowled by Mohammad Asif added 2 more fours to Gilly and Deccan had a good start with 21 on the board in 2 overs.

Gilly was caught by Dilshan off McGrath. He smashed it through mid-off where Dilshan dived and took a brilliant catch.

Asif again proved costly by giving 17 runs in the 4th over. Afridi hit a four and later in the over, Gibbs hit a four and a six.

McGrath was hit for two sixes by Gibbs and then a four by Afridi to end that over with 17 runs--most costly by McGrath. End of 5 overs, Deccan were 61 for 1, going comfortably at 12 runs per over. Afridi was hitting the ball hard and clearing boundaries. He hit another six in the 6th over bowled by Maharoof.

The break through came in the 7th over, first ball, bowled by Mishra. The ball was pitched on the off and spun, Afridi trying to hit it over long off, didn't time it well and the ball raised a little higher than expected. The ball went in the air towards cover where de Villiers, the substitute in this match caught it easily. Afridi scored 33 off 14 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Gibbs got out in the 9th over, bowled by Mishra for 22. At the end of 10 overs, Deccan Chargers were 84 for 3, requiring 111 from 60 balls.

Styris couldn't find his touch in this match. But, Rohit Sharma proved his class one more time. He hit two sixes off Bhatia in the 12th over.

Trying to scoop the ball over fine leg, Rohit missed the ball and lost his stump. Crucial break through was provided by Maharoof.

Venugopal, the newly turned dangerous batsman joined Styris. End of 15 overs, Deccan were 128 for 4 requiring 67 for 30 balls.

The 16th over added 9 runs including a four by Styris. The 17th over added two more fours to Styris and the last ball went for a four between third man and point.

43 runs from 18 balls. Maharoof got Styris, caught at long-on by de Villiers for 29 off 28 balls with 2 fours. But, Venugopal continued his fight with a six, four and a six to finish the over with 18 runs.

25 from 12 balls, the match is still open. McGrath took the wicket of Venugopal, caught at long on. I think with this wicket, the hopes of Deccan Chargers would have gone. The most dangerous batsman is gone and McGrath has used his experience through an inswing delivery.

Ravi Teja hit a six over point in the 5th ball to keep the match alive. Last over, 15 to win, 4 wickets in hand.

Amit Mishra took 3 wickets in the first three balls and restricted Deccan Chargers with 2 runs in that over. He was chosen as the man of the match.

Match 37
Venue: Delhi
Date: May 15, 2008
Teams: Delhi Daredevils and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Virendra Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to field
Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 12 runs
Man of the Match: Amit Mishra off Delhi Daredevils (India)
Points: Delhi Daredevils-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:

Delhi Daredevils 194 for 4 in 20 overs (G Gambhir 79, V Sehwag 0, S Dhawan 68 not out, MF Maharoof 19, TM Dilshan 16, MK Tiwary 4 not out, Extras-8 (lb 3, wide 5), DP Vijaykumar 4-0-24-1, RP Singh 4-0-50-0, PM Sarvesh Kumar 3-0-24-0, SB Styris 4-0-33-0, Y Venugopal Rao 2-0-23-0, Shaid Afridi 1-0-18-0, PP Ojha 2-0-19-2) beat Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 182 for 9 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 14, Shahid Afridi 33, HH Gibbs 22, RG Sharma 35, SB Styris 29, Y Venugopal Rao 34, DB Ravi Teja 9, RP Singh 1, PP Ojha 0, DP Vijaykumar 1 not out, PM Sarvesh Kumar 1 not out, Extras-3 (lb 1, wide 2), GD McGrath 4-0-42-2, Mohammad Asif 4-0-51-0, MF Maharoof 4-0-39-2, A Mishra 4-0-17-5, R Bhatia 4-0-32-0)

Man of the Match List

Points Table

Match 21: Bangalore Royal Challengers Wins the Thriller by 3 Runs!

Put into bat, Bangalore Royal Challengers though seemed to struggle in the home ground, finally won by 3 runs. The last 5 overs required 45 runs with Laxman and Rohit Sharma in the crease.

Steyn bowled a tight 16th over where he gave just 3 runs. Sharma scored 2 runs of the fours balls he faced and Laxman scored 1 off the 2 balls.

With 42 from 24 balls, Rohit hit a six, and a four of the first two balls of Kallis to reduce the target to 32 from 22 balls. The next two balls were single and Rohit was out in the fifth ball. He was caught at long on by Jaffer for a well made 57, his third fifty of IPL, in 42 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes.

With 3 overs and 29 required, Praveen dismissed Afridi in the first ball. He hit it over long on, where Steyn covered huge ground running from long on to almost mid-on to take a superb forward diving catch, a crucial one.

The next four balls were singles, but Laxman fell of the last ball. He played across on the ball that almost pitched on the leg and Laxman tried to play it on the onside got trappd in front. He was out for a well made 52 off 44 balls with 7 fours.

25 runs required from 12 balls, Zaheer Khan got Styris leg before for 2. The sweep by Styris of the slower ball did not materialize as he was found plumb in front of the wicket. 11 ball, 25 runs. All the five balls were singles and Zaheer produced a beautiful 19th over under pressure.

Last over was bowled by Indian test skipper Anil Kumble. The first two balls were singles scored. The third ball gave hope to Deccan Chargers were Bangar hit a six over extra cover. Came down the track and hit a flat six.

The fourth ball was also a six. The full toss was sent over mid wicket for another 6 bringing down the target to 6 runs of two balls.

Kumble, the experienced campaigner, just gave a run in the next delivery. Boucher misses the hit at the stumps, when the inside side onto his pads.

Last ball, 5 runs, Yadav, the yorker length delivery went to deep midwicket for a single and Bangalore Royal Challengers win by 3 runs. Earlier, Gilchrist fell cheaply for 10 caught at deep square leg, just inches inside the rope. Though the momentum took him few steps behind, he ensure that he is still inside the rope to take a wonderful catch to get rid off the dangerous batsman Gilchrist.

Gibbs did not make use of this match as well. He hit a four and then got out in the next over for 5. He tried to pull the short ball from Praveen Kumar's first ball, but it came late and the ball lobbed to mid off for a simple catch to Kumble.

Rohit, owner of two fifties in this IPL, joined his skipper. End of power play, 6th over, Deccan Chargers were 33 for 2. It was Sharma who started giving momentum by hitting a six of Kumble's first over and then two fours of Praveen. After that, they were playing singles to reach 63 in 10 overs.

Laxman hit three fours of Kumble in the 12th over. This opened the chance for Deccan Chargers to eye for the victory. Sharma hit a six of Praveen's over, but that over added just 7 runs. With 60 runs from 42 balls and 8 wickets in hand, every chance was with Deccan Chargers. The next two overs added 15 runs to the total to reduce the target to 45 from 30 balls and finally they lost by 3 runs.

Both Laxman and Rohit crossed half-century for Deccan Chargers.

Earlier, Jaffer and Chipli opened the innings with Chipli hitting 2 continuous fours in the 2nd over bowled by RP Singh and was bowled in the next ball. Jaffer and Kohli built the innings with a 72 run partnership of 54 balls.

Jaffer hit few good fours and Kohli also joined the party. He was caught at extra cover by Gibss off Ojha for 44 off 37 balls with 6 fours.

Kallis started off with a flick to fine leg for a boundary was bowled by Ojha. The flighted delivery pitched leg and middle deceived Kallis and he missed the line and was bowled for 6.

Kohli's irresponsible shot sent him to pavilion in the next over leaving Bangalore struggle at 104 for 4 in the 14th over.

Mibah-ul-Haq was trapped leg before off Afridi. The umpire was convinced but not the TV replays. Boucher and skipper Dravid had to carry on and put on a good score.

At the end of 15 overs, Bangalore Royal Challengers were 114 for 5. Afridi bowled a very tight line not giving any room for the batsman. The 17th over by Styris costed only 4 runs and the 18th over by Afridi added another 4. With 130 on the board and 2 overs to go, skipper Dravid had to open his shoulders for big shots.

Boucher hit a four and got out. Praveen Kumar, the new batsman hit two fours of the last two balls of RP Singh to take the score to 143 for 6.

Dravid hit a six of Styris and scored a single in the next ball. Praveen was run out in the next ball. He was looking at his shot and the ball when he played a scoop over short leg. It was Dravid's call and he rightly came to batting crease where Praveen was watching the fielder. He started late and didn't reach the crease on time.

Dravid hit a six of the penultimate ball and got out in the last ball for a well made 26 in 19 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes.

Praveen Kumar was declared man of the match for picking 3 wickets in his four overs giving away 23 runs.

Match 21
Venue: Bangalore
Date: May 3, 2008
Teams: Bangalore Royal Challengers and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to field
Result: Bangalore Royal Challengers won by 3 runs
Man of the Match: Praveen Kumar off Bangalore Royal Challengers (India)
Points: Bangalore Royal Challengers-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Bangalore Royal Challengers 156 for 8 in 20 overs (B Chipli 10, W Jaffer 44, V Kohli 38, JH Kallis 6, Misbah-ul-Haq 3, R Dravid 26, MV Boucher 16, P Kumar 8, Z Khan 0 not out, Extras—5 (lb 3, wide 2), DP Vijaykumar 3-0-18-0, RP Singh 4-0-41-3, SB Styris 4-0-29-1, Shahid Afridi 4-0-23-1, PP Ojha 4-0-28-2, SB Bangar 1-0-14-0) beat Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 153 for 6 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 10, VVS Laxman 52, HH Gibbs 5, RG Sharma 57, Shahid Afridi 1, SB Styris 2, AS Yadav 3 not out, SB Bangar 17 not out, Extras—6 (b 1, lb 3, wide 2), DW Steyn 4-0-20-0, Z Khan 4-0-24-2, P Kumar 4-0-23-3, A Kumble 4-0-47-0, JH Kallis 4-0-35-1)

Match 7: Shewag and Delhi Bowling Demolish Deccan Chargers!

For the second time, the Deccan Chargers have failed to prove their credibility in the 20-20 and IPL. The team lead by Laxman once again failed to win their match and has faced two consecutive defeats.

Winning the toss, but taking a bad decision to bat first, Laxman did not had anything go in favor of him except the last few overs of his teams batting. Including his form, everything has been questioned on the teams performance. He has scored just 2 runs in two games with the a duck in the first game.

The swing the pitch offered in addition to the natural ability of McGrath put Hyderabad Deccan Chargers in the back foot. No one was able to make big hits as they were not timing the ball. At the end of the 10th over, Deccan Chargers were 45 for 4 with all the leading batsman back in the pavilion--Gilchrist (8), Venugopal Rao (14), Laxman (2) and Andrew Symonds (12).

It was the young Rohit Sharma who took charge of the innings, but at the later part of the overs. He was playing singles to ensure that they score at least run a ball so that they can cross 100.

The over from Maharoof proved to be vital and provided a hope for Deccan Chargers. Rohit hit 26 runs of Maharoof's final over and the 18th over of the innings. That took the score from 90 for 7 in 17 overs to 116 for 6 in 18. Rohit was out in the next over, but the remaining batsman were slogging and scored 26 runs in the last two overs to give Deccan a decent total of 142 for 8. Rohit scored 66 off 36 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes.

Delhi, looking for their 2nd win, reached home with another 2 points comfortably in just 13.1 overs. Skipper Virendra Shewag smashed Deccan bowling all over the ground. Though he was lucky not to be given out in the 1st over, he scored a firing 94 not out off 41 balls with 10 fours and 6 sixes. He dominated the complete innings with huge hits over the ground.

The 12th over of the innings bowled by Symonds had seen highest run conceding over in the game. Shewag scored 30 runs in that over with alternates of forus and sixes--four, six, four, six, four, six.

Shewag as declared man of the match, the first Indian to get the award in the tournament.

In the 4th ball of the 12th over, the ball hit the helmet and Deccan Chargers were penalized for that. It was a bonus of 5 runs to Delhi.

Match 7
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: April 22, 2008
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers v. Delhi Daredevils
Captains: VVS Laxman and Virendra Shewag
Toss: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and decided to bat
Result: Delhi Daredevils won by 9 wickets with 42 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Virendra Shewag of Delhi Daredevils (India)
Points: Delhi Daredevils-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 142 for 8 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 8, Y Venugopal Rao 14, VVS Laxman 2, A Symonds 12, RG Sharma 66, Shahid Afridi 2, SB Bangar 8, AS Yadav 12, WPUJC Vaas 12 not out, RP Singh 1 not out, Extras 5--lb 3, wide 1, nb 1, GD McGrath 4-1-22-0, Mohammad Asif 4-0-19-2, MF Maharoof 4-0-36-2, VY Mahesh 4-0-35-1, R Bhatia 4-0-27-2) lost to Delhi Daredevils 143 for 1 in 13 overs (G Gambhir 12, V Sehwag 94 not out, S Dhawan 25 not out, Extras 12--wide 7, penalty 5, WPUJC Vaas 3-0-22-0, RP Singh 3-0-27-1, SB Bangar 2-0-30-0, Shahid Afridi 2-0-17-0, A Symonds 2-0-35-0, PP Ojha 1-0-7-0)