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Bowlers deliver for Chargers

Rakesh Rao

Delhi Daredevils fails to chase down a target of 169

— PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM

COMING GOOD: Opener Sunny Sohal came up with a fine half-century to help Deccan Chargers put up a competitive total against Delhi Daredevils at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: The apparent imbalance in the Delhi Daredevils' line-up is sure to haunt the team periodically as the Indian Premier League progresses.

The damage caused by the inadequacy of bowling resources would not always be undone by the team's batting. Tuesday was one such day.

Once Deccan Chargers sensed its chances, it kept the hold on Daredevils throat and walked away in style, having completed a 16-run triumph before a partisan crowd at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground.

Even as the host was left to tend to its raw nerve following its second successive loss in two home games, Deccan celebrated its second triumph in five games.

Chargers in charge

Chasing 169 for victory, Daredevils slipped to 38 for three in the sixth over and left the Chargers in charge. Harmeet Singh's twin-blows, including the scalp of a dangerous-looking Virender Sehwag, effectively pushed Daredevils on to the back-foot. Thereafter, the host always struggled to catch up with the mounting run rate.

Opener David Warner and a confident Y. Venugopal Rao, the two most reliable batsmen for Daredevils in the season so far, held out hope of a turnaround during their 52- run stand before the superiority of Deccan's bowling made the decisive difference.

The fall of Venugopal, to a well-timed jump-and-pluck effort by Daniel Christian at long-off was the beginning of the end for Delhi. Nine-runs later, Warner followed suit, soon after his half-century, failing in his bid to give part-timer Shikhar Dhawan the stick.

Among the rest, the grossly over-priced but under-performing Irfan Pathan did precious little. James Hopes and Yogesh Nagar provided the flicker, with a few big hits, before the spark was expectedly and effectively doused.

Good decision

It was a good decision to bat by Kumar Sangakkara, even though Sehwag too had favoured a chase. Deccan, at one stage looking good for a total in excess of 180, managed a fighting 168 for four, built mainly around the 92-run second-wicket stand involving Man-of-the-Match Sunny Sohal and Sangakkara.

Sohal joined the band of lesser lights to shine brightly in this edition. This flashy Punjab stroke-player, as is his wont, did not let go of any scoring opportunity. Notably, Sohal exceeded expectations during his association with Sangakkara, though both players had an equal number of big hits before being caught brilliantly by Aaron Finch, running backwards.

Unlike the classy Sri Lankan, Sohal got a high number of boundaries in the third man region. He showed a penchant for the late-cut but did not always execute it well. What counted was that he got the runs.

Sangakkara, lucky to get two successive boundaries off Yogesh Nagar after misfields by Morne Morkel, was class personified during his stellar knock. Unlucky to miss a half-century, Sangakkara drove and cut in great style and once again proved that beauty and grace can adorn your game even in the shortest form of the game.

Cameroon White did his bit in the later part of the innings with a brisk unbeaten 31. Though the eventual tally did not appear very intimidating, the better bowling resources of Deccan Chargers ensured that it proved enough on this day.

Tame attack

Lacking teeth and tenacity, the Delhi bowlers did nothing much to help their reputation. To make matters worse, some ordinary fielding affected their chances too. Upfront, Ashok Dinda went for 13 runs in the opening over and helped the visiting team get off to the confident start it had wanted. A lacklustre Pathan appeared to be saving himself to last the competition instead of going flat out in two bursts.

Morne Morkel and James Hopes, too, were far from impressive. Spinners Shahbaaz Nadeem and Yogesh Nagar, looking miserable, were taken for 37 runs in four overs.

Indeed, the body language of Sehwag only confirmed his belief that the progress of the team in the competition rested solely on the batting.

Deccan Chargers: S. Sohal c Finch b Nadeem 62 (41b, 1x6, 8x4), S. Dhawan b Pathan 8 (5b, 2x4), K. Sangakkara c Finch b Dinda 49 (35b, 1x6), C. White (not out) 31 (25b, 1x6, 2x4), D. Christian b Hopes 8 (11b), B. Chipli (not out) 5 (3b), Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-2) 5, Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs) 168.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-106, 3-129, 4-156.

Delhi Daredevils bowling: Dinda 4-0-33-1, Pathan 4-0-28-1, Morkel 4-0-31-0, Hopes 4-0-36-1, Nadeem 3-0-24-1, Nagar 1-0-13-0.

Delhi Daredevils: D. Warner c Teja b Dhawan 51 (48b, 1x6, 5x4), V. Sehwag c Christian b Harmeet 12 (7b, 3x4), N. Ojha lbw b Christian 2 (4b), A. Finch c Sangakkara b Harmeet 0 (1b), Y. Venugopal Rao c Christian b Mishra 21 (23b, 3x4), I. Pathan c Chipli b Ojha 5 (9b, 1x4), J. Hopes (not out) 17 (14b, 1x4), Y. Nagar b Christian 23 (11b, 2x6, 1x4), M. Morkel (not out) 8 (3b, 1x6), Extras (b-6, lb-1, w-6) 13, Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs) 152.

Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-33, 3-38, 4-90, 5-99, 6-112, 7-144.

Deccan Chargers bowling: Steyn 4-0-24-0, Christian 4-0-38-2, Harmeet 4-0-27-2, Ojha 3-0-21-1, Mishra 4-0-28-1, Dhawan 1-0-7-1 .

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