Mishra tricks Chargers to eighth defeat

16th May 2008

A hat-trick by leg spinner Amit Mishra, and the return to form of the Delhi Daredevils' top order were the highlights of their 12-run win over the Hyderabad Deccan Chargers at the Feroz Shah Kotla earlier today.

Deccan Chargers' captain Adam Gilchrist called right at the toss and opted to bowl first on a wicket that looked firm, albeit with a sprinkling of green grass. The Chargers' skipper felt that the conditions wouldn't change much during the course of the match, and his decision to bowl first was based on his team's new strategy.

The Chargers made two changes to the team that lost to the Knight Riders; the big-hitting Shahid Afridi made his way back to the XI, while Chaminda Vaas was left out to make place for Sarvesh Kumar. The Daredevils made three changes to the team that lost to the Knight Riders a couple of days ago; AB deVilliers, Yo Mahesh and Pradeep Sangwan made way for Dinesh Karthik, Rajat Bhatia and Mohammad Asif.

The Daredevils began on a wrong note - they lost skipper Virender Sehwag in the very first over. Sarvesh Kumar, who struggled with his line, offered one short and wide, and true to his reputation, Sehwag threw his bat at it, but found the man at deep third man.

Gautam Gambhir (79), who early in his innings managed to sneak in ahead of a throw from Shahid Afridi that hit the stumps direct, got off the blocks in spectacular fashion. He hit RP Singh for two sixes and a boundary off three consecutive deliveries. Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan, who were so central to Delhi's successes earlier in the tournament, once again came good. Gambhir was the first to step on the accelerator and got to his fifth IPL fifty off only 34 balls, while Dhawan got to his third IPL fifty off 37 balls.

The Deccan Chargers' skipper tried various bowling options in an effort to break the partnership but none really worked. Shahid Afridi's only over went for 18 runs, while Venugopal Rao went from 23 in his two. Pragyan Ojha was brought on in the 16th over and struck with his second delivery; he broke the 133-run partnership between Gambhir and Dhawan, when he had Gambhir stumped by a smart piece of glove-work by Gilchrist.

Dhawan (68*) was still going strong at the other end, and this prompted the Daredevils' team management to promote Farveez Maharoof to number four. Maharoof (19) lived a dangerous life; he was dropped early on in his innings when he had next to nothing against his name, and was lucky to survive a close stumping-call, when the third umpire Asad Rauf ruled not out, with his backfoot on the line.

Dilshan came in at the fall of Maharoof's wicket, and played a cameo (16 from 6 balls). The Daredevils managed 194 for 3 at the end of their 20 overs, their highest total in the tournament. Ojha (2 for 19) was the most successful bowler for the Chargers, while RP Singh's four overs cost him 50 runs - that was only the second time that the Rae Bareli seamer went without a wicket in the tournament.

Shahid Afridi accompanied Adam Gilchirst to open the innings, and this sent just the right kind of signals to the opposition camp. Mohammad Asif's first over saw Dinesh Karthik put down a difficult catch offered by Gilchrist, but the former Australian wicketkeeper didn't capitalize on much of that opportunity; he was dismissed off the very next delivery, thanks to a brilliant diving catch by Dilshan at mid off.

With Afridi and Gibbs getting stuck into McGrath and Asif, Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag quickly employed his slower bowlers Farveez Maharoof and Amit Mishra. Leg spinner Mishra struck with his very first delivery, when Afridi (33) checked his shot and ended up slicing the ball to the man at point. A threatening 50-run partnership was broken, but a bigger blow was to follow soon when Herschelle Gibbs (22) failed to read a googly from Mishra and missed the ball completely, only for the ball to crash into his stumps.

After a brief period of calm, between overs 6 and 11, where the Deccan Chargers only scored 22 runs, Rohit Sharma got stuck into Rajat Bhatia and hit him for two towering sixes and a four in an over that cost the Daredevils 19 runs. Styris survived a close run-out call in the 13th over, when television umpire Asad Rauf ruled the batsman in, despite television replays being close to inconclusive. It could have gone either way, but to the delight of the Chargers, the umpire ruled in their favour.

With the asking rate climbing, Rohit Sharma tried to improvise against the medium pace of Maharoof; he walked across to the off side and tried to paddle the ball down to fine leg but missed the ball completely. The ball crashed into the middle of his middle stump, and that was the end of a fine innings from the young man - Rohit Sharma was gone for 35, and the Deccan Chargers were tottering at 114 for 4.

The fifth-wicket partnership between Scott Styris and Venugopal Rao kept the Deccan Chargers in the game; the duo added 40 runs in just under five overs. After Styris was dismissed (154 for 5, 17.3 overs), Venugopal Rao took up the cudgels. He hit Maharoof for two sixes and a boundary soon after Styris' dismissal and the match was in the balance again (25 runs needed from 2 overs).

Rao's dismissal in the penultimate over once again swung the ball in favour of the hosts, but little known Ravi Teja hit McGrath for a six to put the match in the balance again. At the start of the last over of the match, the Deccan Chargers needed 15 runs to pick up their third win in the competition.

The last over of the run-chase was bowled by Haryana leg spinner Amit Mishra, whose guile and turn was too hot for the Chargers' tail enders to handle; he picked up the wickets of Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojhan and RP Singh off consecutive deliveries to register the second hat-trick in the IPL. That effort all but sealed the match in favour of the hosts - who went on to win the match by 12 runs.