Coming into this game, one team had won two games all last season and five games in their last 28. They had undergone a massive makeover in the off-season, letting go off 13 players and rebuilding from scratch in the auction.
The other team was a two-time champion, made it to the playoffs in all seven previous editions and played with a settled core season after season. On paper, Delhi Daredevils were rank outsiders against the mighty Chennai Super Kings.
But when Albie Morkel’s booming cover drive fell just short of the boundary line with Delhi needing six off the last ball, the feeling was that the away team threw away a golden chance to get their campaign off to a winning start after restricting Chennai to 150. A valiant effort led by a fighting 73 not out from Morkel notwithstanding, Delhi lost this game in the dugout because they held back Yuvraj Singh and JP Duminy for far too long. When your star batsmen play at No. 6 and No. 7 for a combined total of 14 from 11 balls, you have only yourself to blame.
Delhi can undoubtedly take a lot of positives from this game and will be happy with this performance to start the tournament with. But they must file this defeat in a folder named “What-if.”
The DD bowlers set it up
Dwayne Smith got Chennai off to a blistering start as Morkel conceded 16 in the first over after JP Duminy won the toss and, rather surprisingly, put Chennai into bat. Without Shami and Zaheer in the XI and with the pitch looking like a batting paradise when Dwayne Smith and Brendon McMullum were out in the middle, the signs were ominous for Delhi.
But Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled a fiery opening spell, first getting McCullum caught by Yuvraj off a top-edge that looped behind the stumps and then knocking over Suresh Raina in the next over for 4. And that was the story throughout the first half of the match. Every time Chennai looked like they would pull ahead, Delhi dragged them back.
Smith made a boundary-filled 34 off 31 balls before finding the fielder at mid-wicket with surgical precision from a rank long-hop bowled by the excellent Imran Tahir. Faf Du Plessis fell to a similar short ball from Duminy as Shreyas Iyer took a smart high-catch at long off. Just when he was looking to cut loose, Ravindra Jadeja was stumped by Amit Mishra’s googly.
MS Dhoni, despite struggling for the most part of the innings, slammed two sixes in the last over from Coulter-Nile, but the bowler got his reward for coming around the wicket to bounce out the Indian skipper. Even the debutant Dominic Joseph showed character, bouncing back after going for 17 in his first two overs to claim Bravo’s wicket while conceding just one run in his third.
Wickets came at regular intervals, and Delhi conceded just 45 runs from the last seven. In a scene that would have delighted purists around the world, Delhi had two good leg-spinners bowling at tandem in the middle of the Chennai innings. Their combined figures read an impressive 8-0-48-2. Given the might of the CSK batting lineup, it was a very impressive effort from Duminy’s men. All they needed then was a good, steady start to the chase to pull off an upset over the tournament favorites.
Puzzling top-order line-up
Most experts agreed that Delhi’s top-order would be their biggest weakness. Without Quinton de Kock in the side, their inexperience was exposed by Ashish Nehra and co today. Mayank Agarwal and CM Gautham played loose shots to throw their wickets away. The promising, expensive youngster Shreyas Iyer played a few ungainly shots before eventually getting out to a mishit skier over mid-on. Kedhar Jadhav and Albie Morkel hung around, with an admirable reluctance to find fielders with their mistimed shots.
Yuvraj eventually came in with Delhi needing 64 from 41 and lost his bearings to a bouncer from Bravo. Duminy tried playing one too many to the third man, dragging one on to his stumps from Ishwar Pandey. Albie, a fan favourite from his days in the yellow jersey of CSK, continued to fight, drenched, panting but hanging on, before managing to connect from Bravo’s length balls in the last over with 19 required to win. But it was a case of too little, too late for the Daredevils.
“Nothing to lose.” These three words dominated the lead-up to this game from the Daredevils’ camp. While they came within a run of Chennai’s total, it seemed like Duminy’s men fell for the self-fulfilling prophecy of being underdogs.
A good innings at the top from either Yuvraj or Duminy would have injected a bit more belief in the chase. The Delhi skipper spoke about fine margins after the game, referring to Morkel’s almost-six. But he might as well have been talking about their batting lineup.
Someone had better ensure that Yograj Singh does not go anywhere near JP Duminy for a while.
The other team was a two-time champion, made it to the playoffs in all seven previous editions and played with a settled core season after season. On paper, Delhi Daredevils were rank outsiders against the mighty Chennai Super Kings.
But when Albie Morkel’s booming cover drive fell just short of the boundary line with Delhi needing six off the last ball, the feeling was that the away team threw away a golden chance to get their campaign off to a winning start after restricting Chennai to 150. A valiant effort led by a fighting 73 not out from Morkel notwithstanding, Delhi lost this game in the dugout because they held back Yuvraj Singh and JP Duminy for far too long. When your star batsmen play at No. 6 and No. 7 for a combined total of 14 from 11 balls, you have only yourself to blame.
Delhi can undoubtedly take a lot of positives from this game and will be happy with this performance to start the tournament with. But they must file this defeat in a folder named “What-if.”
The DD bowlers set it up
Dwayne Smith got Chennai off to a blistering start as Morkel conceded 16 in the first over after JP Duminy won the toss and, rather surprisingly, put Chennai into bat. Without Shami and Zaheer in the XI and with the pitch looking like a batting paradise when Dwayne Smith and Brendon McMullum were out in the middle, the signs were ominous for Delhi.
But Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled a fiery opening spell, first getting McCullum caught by Yuvraj off a top-edge that looped behind the stumps and then knocking over Suresh Raina in the next over for 4. And that was the story throughout the first half of the match. Every time Chennai looked like they would pull ahead, Delhi dragged them back.
Smith made a boundary-filled 34 off 31 balls before finding the fielder at mid-wicket with surgical precision from a rank long-hop bowled by the excellent Imran Tahir. Faf Du Plessis fell to a similar short ball from Duminy as Shreyas Iyer took a smart high-catch at long off. Just when he was looking to cut loose, Ravindra Jadeja was stumped by Amit Mishra’s googly.
MS Dhoni, despite struggling for the most part of the innings, slammed two sixes in the last over from Coulter-Nile, but the bowler got his reward for coming around the wicket to bounce out the Indian skipper. Even the debutant Dominic Joseph showed character, bouncing back after going for 17 in his first two overs to claim Bravo’s wicket while conceding just one run in his third.
Wickets came at regular intervals, and Delhi conceded just 45 runs from the last seven. In a scene that would have delighted purists around the world, Delhi had two good leg-spinners bowling at tandem in the middle of the Chennai innings. Their combined figures read an impressive 8-0-48-2. Given the might of the CSK batting lineup, it was a very impressive effort from Duminy’s men. All they needed then was a good, steady start to the chase to pull off an upset over the tournament favorites.
Puzzling top-order line-up
Most experts agreed that Delhi’s top-order would be their biggest weakness. Without Quinton de Kock in the side, their inexperience was exposed by Ashish Nehra and co today. Mayank Agarwal and CM Gautham played loose shots to throw their wickets away. The promising, expensive youngster Shreyas Iyer played a few ungainly shots before eventually getting out to a mishit skier over mid-on. Kedhar Jadhav and Albie Morkel hung around, with an admirable reluctance to find fielders with their mistimed shots.
Yuvraj eventually came in with Delhi needing 64 from 41 and lost his bearings to a bouncer from Bravo. Duminy tried playing one too many to the third man, dragging one on to his stumps from Ishwar Pandey. Albie, a fan favourite from his days in the yellow jersey of CSK, continued to fight, drenched, panting but hanging on, before managing to connect from Bravo’s length balls in the last over with 19 required to win. But it was a case of too little, too late for the Daredevils.
“Nothing to lose.” These three words dominated the lead-up to this game from the Daredevils’ camp. While they came within a run of Chennai’s total, it seemed like Duminy’s men fell for the self-fulfilling prophecy of being underdogs.
A good innings at the top from either Yuvraj or Duminy would have injected a bit more belief in the chase. The Delhi skipper spoke about fine margins after the game, referring to Morkel’s almost-six. But he might as well have been talking about their batting lineup.
Someone had better ensure that Yograj Singh does not go anywhere near JP Duminy for a while.
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