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Great feeling to beat table-topper

The fact that we kept getting wickets was crucial, writes Anil Kumble

It is indeed a good feeling to have beaten the team leading the points table.

True, the Delhi Daredevils were being bold in experimenting with their side but it still required us to do a lot of things well to come up trumps. Everyone in my team responded well and in the end we won comfortably.

We were a bowler short going into Tuesday’s clash, what with Vinay (Kumar) injured but we decided to take a chance and pack the side with an additional batsman in the hope that we will be able to chase down anything that was set for us.

The idea was to distribute the overs between Virat, Ross and Akhil.

The previous night I had taken Praveen Kumar aside and told him that he had to give us a good start. I simply asked him to deliver us three wickets, that of Viru, Gambhir and de Villiers! He didn’t exactly get us those three but his first over itself made it advantage Royal Challengers.

With Kallis then following it up with some tight overs and Merwe chipping in with the crucial wicket of de Villiers, just when he looked like going for broke, we were always in the game. The fact that we kept getting wickets was crucial.

Like against Chennai, we got wickets early, kept the middle overs tight and struck in the last five overs too. That was the key as earlier we were not getting wickets in the death, thus allowing the opposition to get away.

With the bowlers having done their job and more, the batsmen took over. Kallis’s was an extremely well-controlled innings. The icing was Rahul coming back to form at an opportune time and Ross going out there and enjoying himself again.

Ross shifted the momentum back towards us with his cameo. Perhaps he decided that with Kallis anchoring the chase, he could go for some big shots.

Plotting it out

As it is, whenever we chase, we make it a point not to go into the 20th over. When we are chasing a smallish total, we try and think of the 18th as the last over and when the target is bigger, we aim at finishing the game in the 19th, giving us some sort of a cushion. That message was also sent across as a reminder at the strategic break.

The one concern we have at this point is Robin’s form. He’s too good a player to have missed out on as many occasions as he has. We have given him a free hand though and are not putting any additional pressure on him.

Going forward, by the time you read this, the other results that matter would have become clear and we will know what exactly needs to be done.

One thing is for sure, we will go all out for a win against Hyderabad whatever the situation.

For, firstly a win will help us keep the momentum going and secondly, we will not have to worry about the table.

Hawkeye Communications

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