Virender Sehwag's incredible century helped Delhi Daredevils record a sensational four-wicket victory with one over to spare and kept its hopes alive in the Indian Premier League at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Thursday night.
Fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma breathed fire early to reduce Delhi to 25 for three in 5.4 overs.
Brilliant delivery
Steyn produced a beautiful out-swinger off the second ball of the innings which forced Aaron Finch to snick to slip. Then, Ishant sent back Naman Ojha and Y. Venugopala Rao.
Skipper Sehwag was in no mood to buckle under pressure despite the early blows. Sehwag hit debutant Ishan Malhotra for 6, 6, 4, 4, 2 and 1 to aggregate 23 runs that changed the complexion of the match.
In the 10th over of the innings, Deccan Chargers could have come back into the game had substitute Ankit Sharma taken Sehwag's catch when the opener was on 54.
Then, the Chargers camp watched in admiration as the Delhi captain hit some sensational strokes to leave it stunned and hopeless as the innings progressed before Steyn had the consolation of having him caught behind in the 17th over (153 for five). The fast bowler's gesture of walking across to pat Sehwag on the back as he was heading back to the pavilion was symbolic of the entire crowd's mood. By then, the great Indian opener had done his job in style.
Duminy sizzles
Earlier, Jean-Paul Duminy struck his maiden half-century for Deccan Chargers and shared a crucial 71-run stand for the fourth wicket off just 35 balls with Daniel Christian. The duo took the team score to 175 for five, equalling the previous best in this edition against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
There was drama in the 15th over when off-spinner Yogesh Nagar had the misfortune of seeing both Duminy (on 22) and Daniel Christian (on eight) caught off no-balls in the same over.
The left-hander didn't waste the chance. He took his batting to an entirely different plane, swinging a full-toss from Morne Morkel in a flash for a six before being needlessly run out in the same over.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara looked in a hurry and started off in style, hitting Morkel for three consecutive fours in one over. But he did not last long as he went for a big heave on the on-side only to be caught at covers by Virender Sehwag in the 12th over. Chargers was 87 for three at that stage.
