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 32: Captain Ganguly stars in Kolkata's Win

In a crucial match for Kolkata, where a win would still keep them in the race for a birth in semi-final, captain Sourav Ganguly lead from the front and retained their hope for semi finals.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Salman Butt couldn't find his form and got out in the first over after striking a boundary. He was caught by Gilchrist off Vaas. Breakthrough in the first over itself.

Ganguly joined Akash Chopra and built a 68-run partnership for the 2nd wicket in 57 balls. Thought it was slow, the partnership laid the foundation for big overs in the remaining overs.

At the end of 10 overs, Kolkata were 73 for 1 with Ganguly on 43 with 8 fours and Chopra on 24 off 22 balls with 3 fours.

The poor calling between Ganguly and Chopra sent the later to the pavilion. Good direct hit by Gibbs in mid-wicket.

The 102-run partnership in 48 balls between Ganguly and David Hussey boosted the Kolkata's run rate and also gave them a good chance to go beyound 200 run mark.

Ganguly reached his 50 in the 40 balls with 9 fours. He did not take risk as much as Hussey did, but that made more sense.

As soon as he reached his 50, he hit two sixes off Ojha. The 14th over added 19 runs to the total and the momentum picked up.

The next over of Venugopal added 10 to the total and at the end of 15, Kolkata were 118 for 2.

Styris was brought into the attack expecting break-through, but Hussey hit hi for a four in the 2nd ball and then Ganguly hit him for two continuous sixes to take his tally to 84 and the score to 136 for 2 in 16 overs.

The sixes and fours started coming easily. Vaas was hit for a six by Ganguly of a full toss. Another full toss was sent to four by Hussy and followed by a six of one more full. 19 runs to the total and it crossed 150.

RP Sing conceeded 20 runs to Hussey in the 18th over including 2 sixes, 1 four and two 2s. Score was 175 for 2 in 18 overs. Hussey crosed his 50 with the six in 25 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.

With 9 more to reach his hundred and just 12 balls remaining, he was caught at fine leg off Vijayakumar. The ball pitched outside the leg stump and he hooked it straight to fielder. His 91 came off 57 balls with 11 fours and 5 sixes.

Tabiu hit a four and got out in the 20th over. Shukla hit two fours and the last ball of the innings added 6 runs to the total. Shukla hit the ball to long off and retuned for the 2nd run. The fiedler at long off threw the ball to RP Singh, who in turned threw it to the wicket keeper end for a run out without realizing that no one was backing up. The ball touched the ropes and added 6 to the total. The poor throw helped Kolkata to go past 200, a psychological figure.

Chasing 205 in 20 overs, is always difficult. One or two quick wickets or good overs would put pressure to the players.

The start did not go as expected. Gibbs was caught by Salman Butt at third man for 5.

Gilchrist couldn't time the ball well as he most of the times does. He hit 3 fours in the 5th over bowled by Dinda but got out in the same over last ball, caught by Ganguly. He was out for 24 off 17 balls with 5 fours.

Ravi Teja was out in the first ball of the next over caught behind off Umar Gul.

Rohit Sharma and Styris carrying more and more pressure had to save their side from another loss. Styris was soon out for 5 caught by Shukla off Ganguly.

Venugopal joined Rohit in the 9th over. Rohit hit Ganguly for a huge six over mid wicket. At the end of 10 overs, Deccan Chargers were 74 for 4. Rohit hit another six of Ganguly, but that was not enough.

He got out in the 13th over after hitting a four in the first ball. He played across the line to hit it over mid wicket, but it went straight to Ganguly at the edge of the circle. He contributed 33 off 24 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.

Murali Karthik's over game some how for Decccan Charger when Venugopal tried his chances. He hit him for 3 sixes and a four. All of there were good shots which took the score to 121 for 5 in 14 overs.

Bangar was out in the 15th over, caught by Chopra off Ganguly for 2. Ganguly is becoming a good T20 bowler.

Venugopal hit a six of Ishanth Sharma, the one handed shot off a wide short ball. It cleared the third man boundary. The over pitched next ball was driven through extra cover for a boundary. 12 runs from this over changed the equation to 68 off 24 balls.

Venugopal hit a four and a six of the next over by Umar Gul and reached his 50. He was dealing in boudaries and sixes in every over. He is becoming more and more dangerous for Kolkata. He reached his 50 in 28 balls with 3 fours and 5 sixes. The 17th over added 17 runs to the total. 51 from 18 balls.

Shukla gave just 7 runsin the 18th over and picked the wicket of Vaas.

44 from 12 balls with 3 wickets in hand. Including a six by Venugopal, the 19th over added just 11 to the total.

Last over, 33 runs required. Deccan managed to get only 9 runs and lost the match by 23 runs, almost ending their dream of making it to the top 4.

Venugopal was not on 71 off 42 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes. That was a superb fighting knock, which shocked Kolkata.

Ganguly once again is the man of the match for his 91 and 2 wickets of 4 overs giving 25 runs.

Match 32
Venue: Hyderabad
Date: May 11, 2008
Teams: Hyderabad Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders
Captains: Adam Gilchrist and Sourav Ganguly
Toss: Kolkata Knight Riders and decided to bat
Result: Kolkata Knight Riders won by 23 runs
Man of the Match: Sourav Ganguly off Kolkata Knight Riders (India)
Points: Kolkata Knight Riders-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:

Kolkata Knight Riders 204 for 4 in 20 overs (Salman Butt 4, A Chopra 24, SC Ganguly 91, DJ Hussey 57 not out, T Taibu 9, LR Shukla 14 not out, Extras-5 (lb 1, wide 3, nb 1), WPUJC Vaas 3-0-36-1, DP Vijaykumar 3-0-21-1, SB Styris 3-0-28-0, RP Singh 4-0-59-1, Y Venugopal Rao 4-0-24-0, SB Bangar 1-0-10-0, PP Ojha 2-0-25-0) beat Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 181 for 7 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrist 24, HH Gibbs 5, DB Ravi Teja 10, RG Sharma 33, SB Styris 5, Y Venugopal Rao 71 not out, SB Bangar 2, WPUJC Vaas 9, RP Singh 6 not out, Extras-16 (lb 8, wide 4, nb 4), AB Dinda 4-0-33-3, I Sharma 3-0-27-0, Umar Gul 4-0-43-1, SC Ganguly 4-0-25-2, M Kartik 3-0-29-0, LR Shukla 2-0-16-1)

Match 30: Rajasthan Royals beat Deccan Chargers!

Deccan Chargers need some kind of luck or good performance or something that would given them win! But, there is nothing else other than hardwork and doing it in smart way with little bit of luck in their site.

Put into bat, they started it well. For the second continuous time, Gilly lead the team, looking for another win.

The two dangerous players of One-Day cricket, Gilchrist and Gibbs opened the innings. Gilchrist launched the attack with a four of the first ball and last ball in the first over.

Sohail Tanvir, who wanted to continue his bowling form, did not find the rhythm this time. In addition to two fours in first over, he was smashed for another 3 hours. He hit a six in Watson's over and Gibbs hit a four in the same to take the score to 41 for no loss in 5 overs.

The 6th over had two fours by Gilchrist and end of power play, Deccan Chargers had 51 on the board with Gilly scoring 37.

Gibbs not finding his rhythm and not able to smash like Gilly, got out in the 8th over, caught by Rawat off Munaf Patel for 19 off 20 balls.

At the end of 10 overs, Deccan Chargers were 74 for 1. What else you need? You have to keep the momentum going, but full credit to Rajasthan captain Shane Warne for his wonderful capatincy.

Pathan went for 10 runs including a six. Gilly scored his 50 off 37 balls with 8 fours and a six. Trivedi gave 3 runs in the next over.

The thirteenth over of Pathan had Styris caught by Warne. The pressure of not able to add runs to the scoreboard had him go against Yousuf Pathan. It took the edge and went high in the air. Warne standing at mid wicket took a good judging catch.

Gilchrist was out in the 14th over, caught by Rawat of Trivedi for 61. It was almost a wide, but he chased and got an edge.

Afridi failed one more time. He was out for 1 off Warne, who turned the ball well seeing Afridi coming out of the crease. He still went ahead with the shot and threw his bat. It took the edge and went to point where Munaf Patel took the catch.

Rohit Sharma was struck in the pad and started for the run. The team was appealing and Rohit started for the run, but Warne picked the ball faster and hit directly at the stump to run out Rohit. Another big turning point in the innings. This person can definitely improve the scoring rate, but had to go.

Bangar was out in the next over, caught by Rawat off Watson. At the end of 17 overs, Deccan Chargers were 111 for 6. Sohail Tanvir's over added 10 to the total including two fours by Venugopal Rao.

Ravi was trapped leg before off Warne for 6 and that over added 8 to the total including a boundary off the first ball by Venugopal.

Last over by Sohail Tanvir added another 11 including a six by Venugopal and a run out RP Singh. Deccan Chargers ended their innings with 140 on the board, which actually should have been 160+ with the start they had. Good work by Warne and his team.

With an easy target in hand, Rajasthan started their innings way beyond expectations. Both Smith and Yousuf Pathan played smashing innings, especially Yousuf Pathan. The first wicket partnership crossed 100 mark, which has happened only for the 3rd time in this IPL.

Yousuf Pathan was hitting all over the ground regardless of who was bowling. The team meeting conducted by Gilly in the field did not help much as he was in the attacking mood.

The first overs, they did not lose wicket and did not add many runs. They were 33 for no loss. Good tactic.

Ojha's over--the last power play over, was the launching point. Yousuf a six and two fours to take the score to 50. At the end of 10 overs, Rajasthan Royals were 83 for no loss with Yousuf Pathan reaching his 50 in 28 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes.

He got out in the 13th over, when the match was almost over for Deccan Chargers. He was out for 68 caught by Gibss at long off. Ohja captured the first wicket. The partnership was broken in the 4th ball of the 13th over when the score was 109.

At the end of 15 overs, Rajasthan were 129 for 1 with Smith on 36 and Kaif on 14. Smith trying to finish the game soon, hit the first ball for a four and then got out in the 3rd ball, caught by Ojha off RP Singh for 40 off 43 balls with 4 fours.

Watson finished the match in the last ball with a four and gave Rajasthan another 2 points. Virutually Hyderabad Deccan Chargers is out of the tournament!

Yousuf Pathan was rightly chosen as the man of the match for his swash buckling knock of 68 off 37 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes.

Match 30
Venue: Jaipur
Date: May 9, 2008
Teams: Rajasthan Royals and Hyderabad Deccan Chargers
Captains: Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist
Toss: Rajasthan Royals and decided to field
Result: Rajasthan Royals won by 8 wickets with 24 balls remaining
Man of the Match: Yousuf Pathan off Rajasthan Royals (India)
Points: Rajasthan Royals-2; Hyderabad Deccan Chargers-0
Score:
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers 140 for 8 in 20 overs (AC Gilchrst 61, HH Gibbs 19, SB Styris 13, RG Sharma 5, Shahid Afridi 1, SB Bangar 3, DB Ravi Teja 6, Y Venugopal Rao 23 not out, RP Singh 2, PP Ojha 1 not out, Extras-6 (lb 4, wide 1, nb 1), Sohail Tanvir 4-0-39-0, SR Watson 3-0-22-1, MM Patel 4-0-28-1, SK Warne 4-0-20-2, YK Pathan 2-0-19-1, SK Trivedi 3-0-8-1) lost to Rajasthan Royals 141 for 2 in 16 overs (GC Smith 40, YK Pathan 68, M Kaif 17 not out, SR Watson 5 not out, Extras-11 (b 1, wide 10), DP Vijyakumar 1-0-10-0, RP Singh 4-0-24-1, SB Styris 2-0-14-0, PP Ojha 4-0-47-1, Shahid Afridi 2-0-10-0, SB Bangar 2-0-20-0, Y Venugopal Rao 1-0-15-0)

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)