Bhatia, Sangwan take Delhi closer to semi-final berth!

It was a clash of  Heavyweights on wednesday night. A small error in judgement could prove decisive in this version of game. Deccan Chargers made not one, but plenty of such errors. They dropped far too many catches and let Delhi off to an imposing total. Target that went beyond the heriocs of Gilchrist and Symonds.

Pradeep Sangwan

DC chasing 174 were allout for 161. They were restricted in the chase by some lion hearted bowling display from less fancied Rajat Bhatia and Pradeep Sangwan. They shared 34 balls for 33 runs and 7 wickets among themselves. An outstanding display! DC began their chase rather aggresively, which is generally expected when you have Adam Gilchrist around. The score raced to 33 in just 2.4 overs when DC lost their first wicket in T.Suman. Rohit Sharma followed soon both falling to P  Sangwan. Adam Gilchrist at other end was in marderous mood hitting 5 fours and 5 sixes, on the other end Ravi Teja was playing a second fiddle by just nudjing around the ball for singles and a couple of fours. Deccan Chargers went into the strategy break at 83 for 2, with Gilchrist scoring 63 of them. The over dependance of DC on Gilchrist was clearly visible, and 5 balls later it lost its compassionate soldier to gritty bowling of Sangwan. The chase was now handed to Symonds who was playing his first match this season. He controlled the chase and took DC within a striking distance of victory. DC needed 22 runs of 17 balls with 5 wickets in hand. A pretty easy task as thought by everyone, but one man had other plans. Rajat Bhatia gave the death blow to Deccan Chargers by bowling out Symonds for 41 which triggered a middle and lower order collapse. He picked up 3 more wickets in his brief spell to snatch the victory for Delhi from the jaws of Deccan Chargers. Bhatia finished with 4-15 and Sangwan with 3-18.

File Photo: Dinesh Karthik

Earlier Delhi was put into bat by Gilchrist, and managed to score 173 runs in their alloted 20 overs. The total could have been much restrictive had the DC had been more inspired and commited in the field. They just kept dropping the catches which did not allow its bowlers to attain any momentum. Delhi made best use of the loose fielding and some fantastic display of batting by men in form Dilshan(37), DeVillers(44), and Karthik(44). Delhi’s batting prowess were considerably strengthend with the return of Sehwag, who came in at no. 5.  Delhi scored 43 runs in their last 3 overs, thanks to the late onslaught by Karthik whose 44 took only 23 balls with strike rate of 191. The Deccan’s bowlers looked out of sorts and some sloppy fielding dint help the matters either.

Rajat Bhatia was aptly chosen the Player of the Match for his decisive spell claiming 4 crucial wickets. With this win Delhi also booked its Semi Final berth with 16 points; unless the match between Rajasthan and Mumbai on 14th May is abandoned or is a tie.