What’s the story?
Delhi Daredevils skipper Zaheer Khan has said that his performance in the final over of the innings against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium will ‘haunt him a bit’.
“It was small margins. I felt 180 would have been ideal to chase, but the last over I bowled is going to haunt me a bit. Unfortunate to not finish on the winning side, but I’m happy with the way the team is shaping up.
“On the whole the morale of the team is good, we have been losing by very close margins. We just need to get on a winning roll because momentum is crucial in this tournament, and we hope we have one roll left in us,” The 38-year-old said at the end of the game.
In case you didn’t know...
Heading into the final over, the Sunrisers Hyderabad found themselves at 174 for 4 with Moises Henriques and Deepak Hooda in the middle. Bowling the final over, the former India pacer conceded 17 runs, including two fours and a six to give the hosts the momentum they needed as well as some vital few runs which made the difference in the end.
The heart of the matter
Zaheer further praised the Hyderabad bowlers for the way they bowled in the game, reserving special praise for Bhuvneshvar Kumar, who he felt was hitting the ideal lengths and also right now has the ideal rhythm right now.
Despite a good attempt at tracking down the 192 runs set by the defending champs, the Daredevils fell short by 15 runs. Post the game, many questioned the management’s decision to not send Chris Morris higher up the order as he was perfectly capable of taking Delhi home with his lusty hitting.
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What’s next?
The Daredevils next face the Mumbai Indians in an away game at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday night. After winning two straight matches against the Rising Pune Supergiant and the Kings XI Punjab, they have lost two matches on the bounce and will look to get back to winning ways on Saturday against the Rohit Sharma-led side.
Author’s take
At his prime, while playing for India, Zaheer stood up several times and delivered in crunch situations. The game against England in the 2011 World Cup comes to mind immediately. Although he isn’t the bowler that he was back then, he has shown that he had the capabilities of still be an incisive bowler and will hope to put on a better show in the next game.
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