Virender Sehwag
On an unpredictable surface in the Nehru Stadium, where the ball either bounced too much or did not bounce at all, Sehwag ensured that his side pathetic run in the IPL had a full stop.
After electing to bat in an unfriendly surface, Sehwag (80 off 47) batted with a lot of sense as he initially took time reading the pitch, defending the ones that either rose to his chin or kept low. However, he kept loosing his partners too very often as Delhi Daredevils were at one stage panting at 4 for 2 and 35 for 3 when a dependable Venugopal Rao was dismissed. Sreesanth bowled David Warner (3) and trapped Naman Ojha (0) in his first over with balls that kept low. The word unlucky could be tagged onto them
However, Sehwag got the much needed support from Yogesh Nagar (22) and Travis Birt (20) as they shared 56 and 41 runs stand with their skipper for the fourth and fifth wickets respectively. In his 47 ball knock, Sehwag hit eight fours and five sixes which included two back to back sixes off Jadeja, before being dismissed in the 18th over.
Chasing a target of 158, the Kochi Tuskers Kerala batsmen were undone mostly by the pitch rather than by Pathan and Morkel’s incisive initial over spell. The usually erratic Agarkar also joined hands with them in scripting them a win and ensuring that his team kept its IPL hopes alive. The Delhi pace trio of Morne Morkel (3/18), Ajit Agarkar (2/23) and Irfan Pathan (2/27) shared seven wickets among them. Spinner Roelof van der Merwe (3/20) ran through the Kochi tail, taking three wickets in five balls in the 19th over, to contribute in win.
Only two batsmen, Jadeja (31 off 22) and Hodge (25 off 22), crossed the twenty run mark. Ravindra Jadeja offered some hope towards the end before being dismissed by Agarkar. Kochi was all out for 119 chasing a target of 157 (which can be equated to a 190 plus on some other grounds).
Sehwag was adjudged man of the match for playing a captain’s knock under difficult circumstances and challenging conditions.
Tags: Cricket, Delhi Daredevils, Indian Premier League, IPL, IPL 2011, IPL 4, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Virender Sehwag
