It was a welcome return for their experienced skipper Sangakarra as he won the toss and decided to have a bat first, with his side having struggled to chase last time in his absence. A dodgy start against arguably the best bowling attack in the competition may have left the home fans fearing more of the same. Tight lines from Harbajahn and Munaf left DC struggling as the latter sent back Parthiv Patel and next man in, Chipli, inside the first few overs. I was expecting to see a few overs of rebuilding but the impressive Dhawan decided to go the other way in a period of savage hitting as he threw caution to the wind with some huge blows. Unfortunately for the neutral he fell at the end of the 7th over with 41 from 24 balls, with his side on just 46, amazing! It was then the job of their more experienced trio of Christian, Sangakarra and White to accumulate and set a platform for some late attacking play. Christian's steady 39 preceded White's quick 30*, sometimes he seems to forget how to strike the ball when at one stage he was a feared finisher capable of scoring at a dangerous rate and today he showed glimpses of his former self.
There was, however, a moment that really soured the innings and this was the dismissal of Sangakarra. The umpire missed his under-edge into the stumps as the ball then cannoned into the keeper's pads and back into the stumps with the bails already tumbling. It was given not out and Harbajahn and Munaf, reacting to signals from their bench who'd seen a replay, harassed the two umpires into referring the decision which was then reversed. Whilst the right decision was reached it should never have come to that. The umpire had back a mistake and Mumbai should have moved on, Patel and Singh really should known better and the whole incident and their manner was really poor. You'd hope to see repercussions for the experienced duo as it was simply not cricket. The MI bowlers did well to contain DC on a good batting track, Munaf bowled wicket to wicket and benefited from tight bowling at the other end as batsmen were forced to attack him, he took 4-20 with Malinga taking what now seems his inevitable few wickets! The loss of regular wickets meant a big finish never really as DC posted an under-par 138/9.
A strong MI batting line up and comparatively weak DC bowling outfit indicated a comfortable win but this was miles from the truth. Deccan's response was almost entirely led by a well and truly fired up Dale Steyn, previously angered by his send-off from Pollard. The over he bowled to compatriot Richard Levi was unbelievable, he could have had him out twice before the middle stump shattering yorker to the final, as well as a snorter of a bouncer. If ever there's been a better over in 20/20 cricket then I'd love to see it, Steyn proved why he's the best paceman in the world and it was a period of cricket you couldn't take your eyes off as he finished with a remarkable 4-1-12-3. Early wickets and then economical middle overs left DC on top. A typically breezy 24 from Pollard levelled things but his wicket, to a good catch from a real steepler by Dhawan, had the equation back in DC's favour. A couple of maximums from the nerveless Rohit Sharma (a match winning 73* from 50) in the 18th over made for an interesting finale. MI needed 23 from the last 12 balls with 6 wickets in hand. Sangakarra rightly entrusted go to man Dale Steyn with the penultimate over and he did not disappoint. He was impossible to hit and even sent back Dinesh Karthik as it went for just 5 runs, leaving Christian 18 runs to play with in the last and a probable victory. Unfortunately for DC, Sharma had other ideas and he smashed Christian's nervy full tosses for 2 huge sixes, including one from the last ball to seal the win, prompting great celebrations from the dugout with few finger nails left between them.
DC battled hard against a side that looks much stronger on paper and Steyn did everything he could to set about winning the game on his own. In the end Rohit Sharma showed why he is one of the brightest prospects in the game with a sublimely well paced knock. That said, Christian should have done better and 18 runs was more than enough to work with. MI have yet to reach their best at 2 wins from 3 whilst DC's bowling is clearly not the same without Ishant Sharma who could have lightened the load on the breath taking Steyn, although it must be noted that they've played a couple of tournament favourites so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment