Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag put on a brutal display of batting as he smashed 119 runs of just 56 deliveries as the Delhi Daredevils chased down the Deccan Chargers’ imposing total of 175 with an over to spare helping Delhi leapfrog Deccan in the points table. It was a one man show as the Delhi skipper watched helplessly as his teammates bowled no-balls, dropped catches and threw away their wickets as the Daredevils slumped to 25/3 in the sixth over and the required run rate went above 11 after 7 overs. But no game was over as long as the Nawab of Najafgarh was at the crease!

The assault began in the eighth over as Sehwag smashed the debutant Ishan Malhotra for two sixes and two fours as 23 runs came of the over. The brutality continued as he plundered 13 of the next over by Christian. He greeted Mishra into the attack with a huge six over the straight boundary. But then he almost threw it away next ball! He sliced the ball to sweeper cover where substitute fielder Ankit Sharma failed to hang on to a fairly simple catch. Sehwag added insult to injury by cutting the next ball for a boundary and Delhi’s required rate had fallen to 9 from the last ten overs. Christian got rid of Travis Birt, who had faced just 8 balls in a 28 ball 61 run partnership but Sehwag continued playing in the only way he knew too – go after the bowling! He smashed three consecutive boundaries of Amit Mishra’s next as the match seemed to be slipping out of the Chargers grasp.

A couple of boundaries of Steyn and Sehwag had moved to 90 of 43 balls. He reached his maiden T20 century of 48 balls and celebrated it in style as he hit two consecutive sixes of the next two deliveries and Delhi suddenly needed only 27 from the last five overs. Game Over! Sehwag finally for 119 as he tried to cart Steyn for another six but it was too late for the Chargers.

It was always going to be an uphill task for the Daredevils after some sloppy fielding and poor fielding let the Chargers get away to a huge total. After Ravi Teja, who was promoted to open the batting fell early, Dhawan and Sangakkara added valuable runs as both fell trying to play silly shots. But Duminy, playing in place of White, took the responsibility on his shoulders. He smacked four sixes and as he helped himself to 55 of 31 balls. Chargers scored a whopping 83 runs of their last seven overs but even another 30 runs would have been unlikely to be enough as Sehwag ensured that Delhi moved up the table leaving the Chargers on the brink of elimination.