Hyderabad Deccan chargers defeated Chennai by 7 wickets at MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. Hyderabad played perfect match in which they excelled over Chennai in all departments. Pakistan big hitter Shahid Afridi hit 6, 4, 6, 4 in the last 4 balls of 18th over (Joginder Sharma is bowler) to complete the match. This is the second victory for Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. Adam Gilchrist captained Hyderabad in the absence of VVS Laxman who missed out due to injury. Rohit Sharma became the top scoring batsman in IPL 2008.
Adam Gilchrist took the match away from Chennai by hitting quick fire 54 in 36 balls. Scott Styris and ever dependable Rohit Sharma played sensible knocks in the middle overs and helped Hyderabad to register a comfortable victory in a must win match. Hyderabad sent warning signals to opposition by getting its together. I can’t understand why Hyderabad is selecting dummy cricketers like Arjun Yadav and Venugopala Rao. Such bad selection issues will become crucial in tight matches.
Image courtesy: Adamgilchrist.com.
Chennai stumbled to third successive defeat and is looking completely out of sorts in batting. They can’t win a single match with this top order. Chennai is still struggling to play well after the exit of Hayden, Hussy and Hayden. Chennai management needs to sort out these issues immediately.
Stadium: MA Chidambaram stadium, Chennai.
Toss: Adam Gilchrist won the toss and elected to field. This is a wise decision and batting is their main strength.
IPL T20 Scorecard:
Chennai IPL: 144/7 in 20 overs.
Hyderabad IPL: 148/3 in 18 overs.
Result: Hyderabad won by 7 wickets.
Man of the match: Adam Gilchrist. Australian legend won the Man of the Match awards in both matches in which Hyderabad won.
IPL Twenty20 match review:
Highlights of Chennai innings:
1. Anirudha replaced in-form batsman Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and failed miserably by scoring 1 run in 7 balls.
2. Chennai top order batsman who looked invincible in the initial matches now became its Achilles heel after the exit of Hayden, Hussey. Chennai top order failed miserably in third successive match. Dhoni needs to do something.
3. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni stabilised Chennai innings in the middle overs but failed to score big runs once again.
4. South African all-rounder Morkel is responsible for decent total with some big hitting in the late overs.
5. Stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist failed to utilise full quota of its strike bowlers, RP Singh and Vijay Kumar who bowled tremendously in the initial spell. RP Singh- 3 overs; 12 runs; 2 wickets and Vijay Kumar – 3 overs; 17 runs; 1 wicket. Gilchrist wasted 2 overs of its strike bowlers in a Twenty20 match. Such bad decisions may alter match course in tight matches.
6. Chennai scored 20 runs off Sanjay Bangar’s last over. Hyderabad needs an intelligent captain.
Hyderabad innings highlights:
1. Herschelle Gibbs once again failed but Adam Gilchrist played whirlwind knock to end Chennai hopes.
2. His decimation of Makhaya Ntini is a delight for Hyderabad fans.
3. Rohit Sharma and Scott Styris stabilised innings while Shahid Afridi entertained Chennai viewers in the last over by hitting 2 sixers and 2 fours in the last 4 balls of the innings.
Verdict: Hyderabad played according to plan and they cruelly exposed Chennai weaknesses in top order and part time bowler like Joginder. If Hyderabad performs in same manner in the upcoming matches, it is a sure contender for semi-final berth. Hyderabad win is a good sign for IPL and is increasingly becoming complicated to predict semi-finalists.
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