Hapless Chargers fall to Pietersen
Result : Delhi Daredevils win by 5 wickets.
Man of the Match : Kevin Pietersen
Toss : Deccan Chargers won the toss and elected to bat.
After 10 overs, DC – 84/2.
After 20 overs, DC – 157/8.
Having lost the last game against the Rajasthan Royals‘ the other night, the Chargers needed to address various issues in their camp. Up against the Delhi Daredevils in their fourth game, today, the Chargers won the toss and elected to bat and got off to quite a dismal start when they lost their skipper Sangakkara for 1, in as early as the fourth over with 10 on the board.
Little Parthiv Patel, who made his way into the team, put up a partnership of 71 with Shikhar Dhawan to give the Chargers the platform they were seeking at the stage, until Nadeem struck with his first ball dismissing the danger man Dhawan for 44. Parthiv was next to go after some drama for 45. Nadeem, who was having a cracker of a day with 3 wickets and a catch, got Duminy cheaply. The 180 that looked possible at some stage, now seemed in doubt. Morne Morkel struck after and with Jhunjhunwala’s wicket, he became the leading wicket taker this season of the IPL, eventually ending up with 3 wickets too. Some late hitting by Chipli took the Chargers past 150 and they finished, giving the Daredevils 158 to chase down.
Star Performer – Delhi Daredevils : Shahbaz Nadeem who finished with 4 overs, 3 wickets for 16 runs; the best bowling performance this IPL, so far.
Comedy of Errors : Parthiv Patel was caught off Umesh Yadav at the end of the 10th over, but was adjudged not-out due to it being waist high and was dropped next over by Kevin Pietersen who was blinded by the sun, so Parthiv survived – not once, but, was dismissed later in the same over by Nadeem, caught by Jayawardene putting an end to his entertaining stint of 45.
Deccan made a brilliant start to defending their score, getting Ojha in the first over; Veer Pratap Singh striking in his first over in his first game as Duminy held on to a skier. In Dale Steyn’s over that followed, Bharath Chipli dropped Kevin Pietersen just when it seemed like the Chargers paid attention to their coach’s lessons this time, leaving Steyn fuming. But Steyn struck in the very next ball getting the Delhi skipper, Sehwag for 7. Jayawardene was caught next by fellow Sri Lankan – Sangakkara handing Dan Christian his first wicket for the game. But, the star studded line-up of the Daredevils brought out another star – Ross Taylor. KP’s drop, however, cost the Chargers as he took on the bowlers. Taylor was run-out by a direct hit from Dhawan, but KP continued to take on the Deccan bowlers. Being dropped thrice -on 6, 68 and 94 made the most of the chances that the Chargers gave him and steered the Daredevils to victory with a six, scoring his highest score in T20 cricket – 103* – the second centurion this IPL after Rajasthan’s Rahane.
Star Performer - Delhi Daredevils : Kevin Pietersen for his century with a record 9 sixes.
After 10 overs, DD – 71/4.
After 19.1 overs, DD – 162/5.
The Chargers’ letting KP off has come back to bite them; one, in today’s match – thrice, and the IPL in itself.