If you want to beat Gujarat Lions, just put them in to bat first. It has worked everytime this season and over the course of two seasons, Gujarat have managed to win just one after batting first – that victory came against the Delhi Daredevils.
This time, though, they looked to be headed for a win after putting on 195-5 in their 20 overs. They followed up the good batting performance by send back five Delhi Daredevils batsmen back by the 12th over. But then Shreyas Iyer stepped up to the plate and produced a superb 96 to lead DD to a well-earned win.
Here’s a look at some of the best moments of the game:
Smith’s comical run-out
Dwayne Smith won the man-of-the-match award in Gujarat’s last game but this time round, it looked like he just didn’t want to stay in the middle. He was run-out by probably the slowest throw ever. It was so bad that Sunil Gavaskar in the commentary box couldn’t help but say, ‘He just didn’t want to get there.”
Not Mishra’s season
Amit Mishra has been an IPL star. His performances in the IPL have helped him get into the Indian side as well but this just hasn’t been his season. Against GL, he got just two overs and conceded 27 runs. His economy rate this year has been 8.60 – pretty high especially when you consider that other leg-spinners like Imran Tahir, Rashid Khan and Yuzuvendra Chahal have had a pretty good season. While he has got 10 wickets, he has not been able to control the flow of runs and that has come back to haunt DD in every match.
The Finch-Karthik stand
Gujarat were in some trouble at 56-3 but then Karthik and Finch got together and attacked superbly. In 9.2 overs, they put on 92 at a run-rate of 9.51. Finch, in particular, looked very dangerous while making 69. But given how their bowling has performed this season, Gujarat needed him to go on – if he had, they might well have got 200 and won the match.
Pant injury and run out
Just before the end of the Gujarat innings, Rishabh Pant got a painful jab on the thumb of his left hand. It was in the last over of the innings but the pain was bad enough to force him off the field. He still seemed to be a little dazed when he was run out within two balls of coming in to bat. The first ball was dispatched for four. The second saw him miss a flick, start day dreaming and then wake up to find out that he had been run out by Suresh Raina. He got out in pretty much the same way during the U-19 World Cup as well.
The Iyer show
Delhi were reduced to 104-5 after 11.4 overs and Shreyas Iyer was the last remaining genuine batsmen left in the middle. But the Mumbai lad showed that he wasn’t one to be fazed. He went after the bowling – slamming 15 fours in 57-ball 96. It was the most fours hit in an innings in this season. Iyer displayed a class that has many pegging him as a future India star. Pat Cummins gave him some support towards the end and together they took Delhi really close to the target before Cummins was dismissed.
Mishi can’t miss
A wonderful yorker from Thampi had just sent Iyer back to the dugout. Amit Mishra walked in and used all his experience to successful second guess the bowler. Thampi went for another yorker and Mishra, on his first delivery, used his feet... converted it into a full toss and hit a four. As if that wasn’t good enough, he scooped the next ball for another four to win the close match for DD. And then he nonchalantly looked around as if to say, ‘What was all the fuss about.”
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