Daredevils keep IPL semi-final hopes alive

Gambhir and Sehwag guide Daredevils to a comfortable 5-wkt win

BANGALORE: Delhi Daredevils almost made a mockery of the blazing start given by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. They recovered in time to record a five-wicket win over the Bangalore Royal Challengers and kept their hope alive of qualifying for the semifinals. 

It looked like Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had a flight to catch as they went about hammering Bangalore bowlers at the Chinnaswamy stadium. The Delhi duo hammered 90 of seven over before Sehwag headed back to the pavilion. But not before his blistering 47 off 19 balls had taken the match away from Royal Challengers.

Gambhir followed him 10 runs later, thus slowing down their run rate. With two of their stalwarts back in the pavilion, the Delhi middle-order had to stand-up and deliver. But they failed once more. Dilshan, AB de Villiers and Karthik fell in quick succession to give Bangalore a sniff of victory. However, Shikhar Dhawan and Farveez Maharoof steadied the innings and took them past to victory with 10 balls to spare.

The win takes Delhi to a tied fifth with Mumbai Indians on 12 points. But Mumbai have a better run rate and the two games in hand. Delhi’s last two matches are against Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai, and though they have a home advantage it will be difficult to task for them, especially with both the teams also vying for the semifinal spot.

Earlier, Delhi won the toss and opted to bowl. The bowlers didn’t disappoint as they kept a tight leash around the Bangalore batsmen on a wicket that was offering something to the bowlers in the initial stages, thanks to light showers just hour before the match.

Ever the efficient Glenn McGrath was again on top of his game conceding just 19 off his four overs. But the surprise package was Maharoof. The Sri Lankan bowled cunningly, conceding just 13 off his four and in the process getting rid of Kallis and Sreevats Goswami.

Bangalore’s total would have been much less had it not been for Misbah-ul-Haq’s late heroics and debutant Goswami’s sparkling half-ton. While Misbah finished off the innings in great fashion hammering 24 runs off the last over bowled by Rajat Bhatia, it was Sreevats Goswami, who was the star performer for them.

While seniors like Kallis and Rahul Dravid failed to come-up with goods, Goswami, making his IPL debut, steadied the Bangalore innings with a quickfire 52 of 42 ball, thus becoming the first Bangalore player to score a half century on debut. The southpaw took the attack to Delhi bowlers while wickets kept falling at other end.

After initial hiccups, Bangalore were sitting pretty at 102 for three and were set for a decent total with Goswami anchoring the innings. But tragedy struck in the 16th over as Maharoof got rid of Goswami and then a mix-up between Misbah-ul-Haq and Cameron White led to the latter getting run out. Bangalore were reduced to 105 for five in no time.

Bangalore once again tinkered with their opening combination, sending Jacques Kallis to open with Bharath Chipli. But the duo failed to surpass Bangalore’s best opening stand off 37 runs, between skipper Rahul Dravid and Shivnarine Chanderpaul against Mumbai.

Scorecard
Bangalore Royal Challengers:
J Kallis c Karthik b Maharoof 25 (21), B Chipli c Bhatia b McGrath 2 (10), S Goswami c Dilshan b Maharoof 52 (42), R Dravid b Dilshan 9 (11), Misbah not out 47 (25), C White run out 1 (2), B Akhil run out 3 (3), P Kumar b McGrath 2 (5), Z Khan not out 4 (1), Extras (w 9) 9, Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 154; FoW: 1-31, 2-41, 3-73, 4-102, 5-105, 6-122, 7-126
Bowling: G McGrath 4-0-15-2, P Sangwan 3-0-51-0, Y Mahesh 4-0-25-0, M Maharoof 4-0-13-2, R Bhatia 4-0-47-0, T Dilshan 1-0-3-1
Delhi Daredevils: V Sehwag c Chipli b Kumar 47; G Gambhir run out (WhiteGoswami) 39; AB de Villiers c Goswami b Steyn 21; T Dilshan st Goswami b Kumble 4; S Dhawan not out 16; D Karthik c White b Kumble 6; F Maharoof not out 13; Extras (b 1, lb 6, w 5) 12; Total 158 for 5 in 18.2 overs; FoW: 1-90, 2-100, 3-121, 4-123, 5-132; Bowling: DW Steyn 4-0-26-1, Z Khan 3-0-37-0, P Kumar 2-0-33-1, J Kallis 2-0-16-0, B Akhil 3.2-0-21-0, A Kumble 4-0-18-2