IPL 6: DD vs SRH - The Quick Flicks

Playing Sunrisers Hyderabad on their own patch has been akin to breaching a fortress in IPL 6. When Delhi Daredevils ran into Sunrisers Hyderabad’s juggernaut, their players perhaps knew it was going to be a herculean task to upset the apple-cart, and beat them in their own den. On expected lines, Delhi Daredevils couldn’t breach the fortress of SRH and they were steamrolled into submission.

Snapshots from today’s game:

The rifle toting-gazelle shoots down batsmen yet again

Dale Steyn is a phenomenon, as he consistently gets the ball to slant into the batsman before making it to swing late and away at pace. Today, with a gracefulness of poetry in motion, he gave a virtuoso exhibition of fast bowling. He virtually made DD’s batsmen feel like they were playing in hell. The way he zipped through the crease, and bowled a cross-seam bouncer at Sehwag by flicking his wrists at the last moment, was a connoisseur’s delight. He is one of the few modern day bowlers who can scare batsmen sporting all those strange accoutrements.

Ishant Sharma bowls with fire and brimstone

In recent times, Ishant Sharma has largely been off the boil. But in this year’s IPL, he has bowled with zest and verve. Steyn’s partner in crime, Sharma, certainly gave Delhi’s openers plenty of headaches by persistently bowling back of a length and attacking the stumps. He was duly rewarded for his effervescent endeavours with the wicket of Jayawardene. The way both quicks bowled upfront, helped lesser bowlers like Perera and Sammy to chip in with wickets at regular intervals.

Spin twins keep Delhi’s batsmen on a tight leash

When T20 cricket was first played in England, many doomsayers and apocalyptic prophets of the world predicted the extinction of spin bowling tribe. But with their bagful of tricks, spinners have made their detractors eat humble-pie. These days, most captains rely on spinners to take pace off the ball, and tempt batsmen to play more shots.

In IPL 6, it has been a joy to watch both leg-spinners, Mishra and Karan Sharma, tease unsuspecting batsmen and entrap them into making mistakes with their brand of leg-spin bowling. All of Delhi’s batsmen were at sixes and sevens while facing up to the spin twins of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Dhawan and his Midas touch

These days, when Dhawan bats, he seems to bring a midas touch to his batting. Here is a batsman who is brimming with confidence. He made the tricky track at Hyderabad look like a batting paradise with glorious flourishes of debonair cuts and lyrical drives. He just made 22 runs, but when he was batting at the crease, it felt like his precise metre of timing was akin to brush strokes of a master painter.

Was Vihari out or not out?

At 61 for 4, if Vihari had been given out caught down the legside off Botha, it could have caused a flutter or two in the SRH camp. On the basis of replays shown, it seemed like the ball had kissed the glove of Vihari. In the umpire’s defence though, it has to be said that it is extremely difficult to pick up wafer-thin edges down the legside.

In spite of taking a few early wickets, Delhi Daredevils never seemed to be in the game. Sammy hammered the final nail in DD’s coffin with his well-measured knock. Everytime I watch DD play, I wonder how much are they missing their talismanic and swashbuckling middle-order batsman Pietersen. His mere presence seemed to have lifted their sagging spirits last year. On the other end of the spectrum, SRH look good to qualify for the play offs.