It’s over. There will be no 12 painful defeats. Wednesday, April 15, 2015 will forever be known as the day when the losing streak of 11 games became a winning streak of 1 for Delhi Daredevils.
But even when Delhi required 7 runs to win from the last 12 balls chasing 166, with Yuvraj Singh and Mayank Agarwal well set to finish the game off, you could imagine the murmurs from their fans: “What new ways will we find to lose this one?”
Mind you, they tried their utmost. They lost their two big wickets in two balls. Facing Anureet Singh in the 19th over, Yuvraj holed out to deep midwicket, while Agarwal contrived to take a full ball from way outside the leg stump on his pads and on to the stumps.
JP Duminy’s face – with a classic, “Hold on, how on earth have we not won this game already” look written across it – told its own story. But Angelo Mathews dragged them past the finish line with a ball and 5 wickets to spare.
You always got the feeling that if Delhi had to snap the losing streak, they had to win a game comfortably. A close game would have seen the nerves problem crop up once again. In the end, despite the late innings wobble, it was a convincing victory as Yuvraj and Agarwal paced their 106-run partnership beautifully to give Delhi their first points of the season.
Pre-match narratives
Apart from the Sword of Damocles hanging over Delhi’s head in the shape of a looming 12th defeat, the build-up to the game was dominated by the possibility of several dramatic confrontations. Delhi’s once-favourite son, Sehwag, who was deemed unworthy of leading his city, was pitted against Punjab’s once-favourite son, Yuvraj Singh, now playing for Delhi and, for the second season running, trying to justify the big money spent on him.
And all this at a venue which was meant to be the home of Pune Warriors - another franchise that pinned their on hopes on Yuvraj but where he didn’t play a single game in their horrific 2012 season as injury kept him out. Add to that the fact that Delhi was the first franchise to sign Glen Maxwell before letting him go, just like they released Murali Vijay last year, both playing now for Punjab.
That, in a nutshell, is IPL 8 for you.
In the end, both Sehwag and Yuvraj played like they had a point or two to prove to their past owners. To an extent, both succeeded in doing so, the latter with more emphatic effect.
Mixed first half for Delhi
Having been asked to bowl by George Bailey, Delhi was off to a shaky start on the field, as the nerves were palpable. Though Coulter-Nile kept things tight from one end, Vijay, Sehwag and Saha targeted Dominic Joseph and Angelo Mathews. In that opening phase, JP Duminy missed two great chances to run Sehwag out, the first of which was after Saha pushed the ball to mid-off and took off while Sehwag had given up half way down the pitch. The throw from the Delhi skipper was poor, and Kedhar Jadhav’s attempt to collect the call was even poorer as Sehwag ambled safely back into the crease.
When you are in bad form, such missed chances only serve to pile on the pressure. Friendly glances at the fielders became steely-eyed glares, clapping hands became hands-on-heads and innocuous throws at stumps are misdirected. And when Imran Tahir’s first 11 balls went for 34 runs, one feared for Delhi.
But Tahir’s comeback personified Delhi’s resilience, which had veen evident even in the losses against Chennai and Rajasthan. With his 12th ball he induced Glen Maxwell into a mishit with a flighted delivery outside off. He also justified Duminy’s faith in him to bowl the last over and conceded a mere three runs while removing Bailey and Axar Patel. Duminy himself picked up the crucial wickets of Sehwag and the dangerous David Miller with a clever bowling change in the middle overs. Delhi’s bowlers had once again pulled the opposition back.
Near perfect chase
Unlike in the game against Chennai, there was no experimentation with the batting lineup this time around. Mayank Agarwal played a mature innings, putting away the bad balls and rotating the strike off the good ones. Despite the extremely unfortunate run-out of Duminy – who middled nearly every delivery during his 19-ball stay for 21 – Agarwal kept the scorecard ticking along with Yuvraj.
The turning point in the match perhaps came when Bailey, rather surprisingly, decided to bowl out Mitchell Johnson by the 15th over. In what was probably the shot of the match, Agarwal picked a 148 kmph bouncer from right in front of his chin and dumped it over deep backward square leg. Eighteen runs came off that over, and this was followed by Yuvraj smashing Axar Patel for two sixes in the next as a daunting target was reduced to a canter to the finish line.
Despite the minor hiccups in the end, Delhi ended up triumphant. Yuvraj’s form, especially some of his cover drives, which brought back memories of the NatWest 2002 final, Agarwal’s man-of-the-match effort of 68, and Tahir’s comeback ensured JP Duminy goes back home a happy man.
Having already played three heavyweights in the form of Super Kings, Royals and the Kings XI, the onus is on Delhi is to push on from here.
But even when Delhi required 7 runs to win from the last 12 balls chasing 166, with Yuvraj Singh and Mayank Agarwal well set to finish the game off, you could imagine the murmurs from their fans: “What new ways will we find to lose this one?”
Mind you, they tried their utmost. They lost their two big wickets in two balls. Facing Anureet Singh in the 19th over, Yuvraj holed out to deep midwicket, while Agarwal contrived to take a full ball from way outside the leg stump on his pads and on to the stumps.
JP Duminy’s face – with a classic, “Hold on, how on earth have we not won this game already” look written across it – told its own story. But Angelo Mathews dragged them past the finish line with a ball and 5 wickets to spare.
You always got the feeling that if Delhi had to snap the losing streak, they had to win a game comfortably. A close game would have seen the nerves problem crop up once again. In the end, despite the late innings wobble, it was a convincing victory as Yuvraj and Agarwal paced their 106-run partnership beautifully to give Delhi their first points of the season.
Pre-match narratives
Apart from the Sword of Damocles hanging over Delhi’s head in the shape of a looming 12th defeat, the build-up to the game was dominated by the possibility of several dramatic confrontations. Delhi’s once-favourite son, Sehwag, who was deemed unworthy of leading his city, was pitted against Punjab’s once-favourite son, Yuvraj Singh, now playing for Delhi and, for the second season running, trying to justify the big money spent on him.
And all this at a venue which was meant to be the home of Pune Warriors - another franchise that pinned their on hopes on Yuvraj but where he didn’t play a single game in their horrific 2012 season as injury kept him out. Add to that the fact that Delhi was the first franchise to sign Glen Maxwell before letting him go, just like they released Murali Vijay last year, both playing now for Punjab.
That, in a nutshell, is IPL 8 for you.
In the end, both Sehwag and Yuvraj played like they had a point or two to prove to their past owners. To an extent, both succeeded in doing so, the latter with more emphatic effect.
Mixed first half for Delhi
Having been asked to bowl by George Bailey, Delhi was off to a shaky start on the field, as the nerves were palpable. Though Coulter-Nile kept things tight from one end, Vijay, Sehwag and Saha targeted Dominic Joseph and Angelo Mathews. In that opening phase, JP Duminy missed two great chances to run Sehwag out, the first of which was after Saha pushed the ball to mid-off and took off while Sehwag had given up half way down the pitch. The throw from the Delhi skipper was poor, and Kedhar Jadhav’s attempt to collect the call was even poorer as Sehwag ambled safely back into the crease.
When you are in bad form, such missed chances only serve to pile on the pressure. Friendly glances at the fielders became steely-eyed glares, clapping hands became hands-on-heads and innocuous throws at stumps are misdirected. And when Imran Tahir’s first 11 balls went for 34 runs, one feared for Delhi.
But Tahir’s comeback personified Delhi’s resilience, which had veen evident even in the losses against Chennai and Rajasthan. With his 12th ball he induced Glen Maxwell into a mishit with a flighted delivery outside off. He also justified Duminy’s faith in him to bowl the last over and conceded a mere three runs while removing Bailey and Axar Patel. Duminy himself picked up the crucial wickets of Sehwag and the dangerous David Miller with a clever bowling change in the middle overs. Delhi’s bowlers had once again pulled the opposition back.
Near perfect chase
Unlike in the game against Chennai, there was no experimentation with the batting lineup this time around. Mayank Agarwal played a mature innings, putting away the bad balls and rotating the strike off the good ones. Despite the extremely unfortunate run-out of Duminy – who middled nearly every delivery during his 19-ball stay for 21 – Agarwal kept the scorecard ticking along with Yuvraj.
The turning point in the match perhaps came when Bailey, rather surprisingly, decided to bowl out Mitchell Johnson by the 15th over. In what was probably the shot of the match, Agarwal picked a 148 kmph bouncer from right in front of his chin and dumped it over deep backward square leg. Eighteen runs came off that over, and this was followed by Yuvraj smashing Axar Patel for two sixes in the next as a daunting target was reduced to a canter to the finish line.
Despite the minor hiccups in the end, Delhi ended up triumphant. Yuvraj’s form, especially some of his cover drives, which brought back memories of the NatWest 2002 final, Agarwal’s man-of-the-match effort of 68, and Tahir’s comeback ensured JP Duminy goes back home a happy man.
Having already played three heavyweights in the form of Super Kings, Royals and the Kings XI, the onus is on Delhi is to push on from here.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!