Where Delhi Daredevils went wrong
It was nothing but sheer spirit from the Lions, and Delhi’s habit of faltering under pressure, which knocked the Daredevils out of the tournament. Never, since the inception of IPL and the Champions League, has Delhi won a knockout game; the jinx seems to haunt the Daredevils on regular basis. They failed to apply themselves while batting and the result was imminent; they lost to the Lions by 22 runs in a game dominated by the Lions.
The only thing in the match that went Delhi’s way was the toss. With the rain always around Durban, Delhi’s captain Ross Taylor chose to field first in accordance with the expectations.
The Lions started slowly but steadily, up until the 5th over, after which Pathan was hammered.
The Lions scored 35 runs in the first 6 overs, losing just one wicket against a strong Delhi bowling attack, which was a decent start. The runs dried up a little after the powerplay was lifted and the Lions lost two quick wickets near the 10-over mark but Bodi kept going.
Neil McKenzie was surprisingly dropped lower down the order. Given his form and the format – where your best players need to bat higher up – it was a poor decision by the looks of it. Bodi and McKenize then gathered at the crease and tried to build the innings without losing any further wickets and consolidated pretty well; Bodi scored a 50 in the process. They shared a 44-ball, 59-run stand at a crucial stage in the match and had laid a strong foundation for the death overs.
Bodi was dismissed, but McKenzie went on strong, remaining unbeaten on 46 and getting the Lions to a fighting total of 140. The Lions seemed to be 15-20 runs short, given the Delhi batting lineup. As Bodi said, “We have a lot of firepower in our opening bowling with the likes of Nannes and Tanvir, but the opposition has much more firepower in their batting.”
Delhi got off to the worst possible start, losing their hero of the last match for a golden duck. Clearly, Sehwag disappointed. The No.3 batsman Pietersen, and Warner recovered well and looked well on their way to a big partnership, just to see Warner mistiming a pull and falling to Morris, caught of his own bowling.
Delhi then looked under the cosh, with the youngster Chand not being able to even take singles, and losing his wicket trying to break the shackles. Delhi were in deeper trouble by then, having fallen way off the asking rate. They sent in Pathan to take care of the economical left arm spinners, but failed miserably. Delhi were now 72-4, needing another 68 runs of 32 balls.
The hopes rested on the foreign pair of Pietersen and Taylor, but when Taylor got out – caught and bowled by Nannes – it seemed the end of the road for Delhi. Ojha came in and hit a big one over the mid-wicket boundary to give false hopes to the Delhi supporters, but soon perished. Even the most optimistic of the Delhi fans would have given up by now. It was only for some KP magic that the impossible could have been possible, but it was not to be.
They managed a meager 117-9 in 20 overs, which is completely unacceptable given the quality of batting in the side. Clearly, the nerves got the better of the Delhi outfit and they maintained their record of saying goodbye in the semis. It was only pressure and, eventually, poor batting by Delhi that cost them the game.
Whenever a team loses, there is talk of certain inclusions and exclusions, and it was the case with Delhi tonight. Some argued that Jayawardene should have been given a go; I cannot help but agree with them.
He was in red hot form in the World Cup and played a decent innings against the Knight Riders. Though he failed in one innings, you cannot put a player of such quality on the bench in a high-pressure game. He has done it so many times for Sri Lanka and it was time Delhi gave him a chance to break the jinx.
Whom he should have replaced in the side is one point that can be argued upon. Since Taylor finishes well and is coming off a good World Cup showing and KP was itching to go out and prove, Warner seemed to have been the man who would have to make way. Considering he didn’t play a game in this tournament, directly throwing him in for the knockouts was surprising.
Man of the Match: Neil McKenzie for his blistering 28-ball 46.