Delhi wins the crucial match!

The unsung leg-spinner Amit Mishra created miracles last evening. He picked up five wickets, including a hat-trick in the crucial last over of the match. This was the second hat trick of the league. This effort proved more than enough for Delhi to emerge as the winner.

An overcrowded Ferozeshah Kotla witnessed splendid shots from batsmen and great spells by the balling sides as well. Both the sides fought a tough battle. Afridi was seen in full bloom as he launched his attack. But later Afridi showed haste in taking on Mishra, whose five-wicket haul helped Delhi to win by 12 runs. Afridi was out at 33 which included few good hits.

Mishra was rightly adjudged the ‘Man of the Match’. Gilchrist could not stay on the crease for long. He was out at a ball by McGrath at 14. Gibbs again failed to perform and was out at 22 on a ball my Mishra.

Rohit Sharma played well and hit boundaries and appeared dangerous for the home team. But he was soon out at 35 on ball by Maharoof. Venugopala Rao injected the needed push in score table with the help of some big hits before becoming Glenn McGrath’s second victim.

All the remaining players failed to leave any mark. Teja was out at 9 on a ball by Mishra. RP Singh was out at 1 on another delivery by Mishra. Ojha went back on duck. Sarvesh Kumar and Vijay Kumar both were not out at 1 each.

On Delhi’s side Gambhir once again proved the major contributor to the scores. He played magnificent 79 before retuning to the pavilion on a ball by Ojha. Sehwag could not do anything this time as he was out at duck on ball by VijayKumar. Next batsmen to perform well, was Dhawan who added 68 to the score card and went not out. Other small contributions came from Maharoof (19), Dilshan (16) and Tiwary (4). This way Delhi registered an easy win over Hyderabad.

Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan provided a lot of entertainment with their second wicket stand of 133 runs. Gambhir’s 79 off 48 balls with seven fours and three sixes laid the foundation for victory of Delhi. Delhi made total score of 194.

Chasing 195, Hyderabad did not have a single match-winning partnership but eventually reached close to the target, finishing up at 182. So finally Hyderabad seems to be out of the tournament with Delhi surging ahead!