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Centurion: Adam Gilchrist is the new Nizam and Hyderabad are a step away from being the champions of India. No, Team Delhi didn’t do anything wrong, just that they were dazzled by an old man’s frenzy that threw them out of the IPL, yet again in the semi-finals.
Gilchrist went back in time, probably to March 23, 2003, when he rattled India in an opening burst to help Australia retain the World Cup. There was a sense of deja vu as Ashish Nehra ran into bowl, and Gilchrist put him out of the park with effortless ease, just as he had done some six years back.
The assault, though, started with a brutal attack on one of the best bowler of the tournament, Dirk Nannes. Chasing 154, he took 21 off Nannes’ first over, employing all the shots that could have been played. Anything short was hooked or pulled mercilessly, and if the bowler dared to pitch it up, it was driven down the ground.
Spinners came on as early as the fifth over, but there was no shift in momentum. Gilly swept Pragyan Ojha and when he hit three sixes in a Virender Sehwag over, the writing was on the wall.
Earlier, Gilly’s decision to play medium-pacer Ryan Harris paid off as he dismissed Gautam Gambhir and David Warner in the first over.
The Hyderabad attack was looking all charged up, but Sehwag knew how important it was for him to stay at the wicket. The Delhi dasher never took a backward step and kept counter-attacking the Hyderabad attack. Standing tall, he carted Harris and RP Singh around the park and Tillekeratne Dilshan (65 off 51 balls), too, gave him excellent support.
It had to be the strategy break to break Viru’s rhythm and right after the interval, the skipper missed the line of an Andrew Symonds delivery to be caught plumb in front.
Brief Score: Deccan Chargers 154 for 4 (Gilchrist 85) beat Delhi Daredevils 153 for 8 (Dilshan 65, Sehwag 39, Harris 3-27) by six wickets.
