Today has fully convinced me (and, I'm sure, all the Delhi supporters) that we have got one hand on the trophy.
I know it's too early to be looking at the finals, but today's match was a great lesson for every budding cricketer on how to rein your natural attacking instincts and adjust according to the game.
I have to admit, I was getting a bit scared when the run rate was hovering around 9 and our run rate was somewhere around 6.5 or so. However, the fact that wickets weren't falling (as you would expect in such a situation) just gave me the feeling that they're leaving it for the last couple of overs and go hell-for-leather, and smash the ball, they did.
Of course, remembering the inagural T20i match held in Sri Lanka against India (where the Pathan brothers smashed 63 runs between the 16th over and the 20th over to win the match), the tactic seemed perfectly fine. However, it was a high risk tactic and could have backfired if the bowling was more tight. Thankfully, it didn't!
Hayden showed a side that no-one would have seen when he was playing for Australia, having only got his first boundary in the 13th over. He played with a maturity that you expect from someone of his caliber, and I'm sure he'll make sure to book a ticket for the Champions' League!
Of course, the bowling shouldn't be forgotten, Bala having bowled his second over for just 5 runs after being carted for 12 runs in the first, Raina bowling his overs for just 22 runs and a wicket, and Murali, his usual miserly-self, giving 19 runs in his quota!
I'm sure Robin or Vijay Viswanath will be posting a more formal review of the game, so don't forget to come back to read that!
1 comment:
YES it was a great match. But I missed as I was held up, only got the glimpese of the last overs. It was great to watch the assured calm with which Hayden and Dhoni won the match. A good reply for the first match which we lost.
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