Virender Sehwag never misses an opportunity to smile on the field. Even during fierce adversity, he manages a grin. At the Centurion here on Friday night, he remained stoic for some time. Adam Gilchrist was responsible for the Delhi captain’s temporary gloom.
The Deccan Chargers’ skipper went on a rampage against Sehwag’s bowlers, bludgeoning them into submission with an incredible 35-ball 85. The first semifinal of the IPL Season 2 was decided in a trice. It was perhaps one of the most one-sided wins in the competition.
The Hyderabad team chased down the 154-run target in 17.4 overs but when Gilchrist was going after the Delhi bowlers, the Chargers looked set to overhaul the target before the strategy break itself. It was one of those rare innings. Ravi Shastri had no hesitation in declaring it as “the best knock played in a Twenty20 game”.
Gilchrist looked like a man possessed, displaying the greed and ruthlessness of a Long John Silver.
The Delhi bowlers appeared clueless. For the first time in IPL 2, the roving overhead camera at the Centurion was in danger of being broken.
Gilchrist dealt in aerial shots, hammering 15 boundaries of which five were super sixes.
The match, in fact, was decided in the first overs of the two respective innings. Delhi Daredevils were 0-2 by the end of their first over. Hyderabad were 21-0.
Delhi did not recover from those blows. Although Ashish Nehra got Herschelle Gibbs for a duck in the second over of the Hyderabad innings, Gilchrist did not stop. By the time he was out — at 102 — the match was decided. The rest of the team had to just complete the ritual. Andrew Symonds and T Suman hit 24 each to complete their skipper’s unfinished task.
Earlier, Delhi Daredevils recovered from the first over setbacks — when Gautam Gambhir and David Warner were removed by Ryan Harris — through an 85-run third wicket partnership between Sehwag (39) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (65)
Both Sehwag and Dilshan matched each other shot for shot. It was an entertaining partnership but Sehwag’s dismissal in the 11th over stymied Delhi’s progress. They eventually managed 154 but on the night it was not enough. Gilchrist & Co could have chased down even a target of 254!
