Shreyas special seals it for Daredevils against Gujarat
A scintillating knock of 96 by Shreyas Iyer helped Delhi Daredevils continue their winning streak against Gujarat Lions in the Indian Premier League, beating the hosts by two wickets with two balls to spare at the Green Park on Wednesday night.
Iyer, 22, who had a half-century against Sunrisers Hyderabad as his best in IPL 2017 kept Delhi Daredevils hopes alive even though wickets were falling in regular intervals at the other end. His 57-ball 96, which contained 15 fours and two sixes, helped the Zaheer Khan-led side stretch their head-to-head record to 3-1.
Though Iyer missed his maiden century in Twenty20 cricket by a whisker after he was bowled by Basil Thampi off the second ball of the final over, he had put Daredevils on the verge of victory.
Twentyone runs in the innings’ 17th over, which included a six each by Pat Cummins and Iyer, made a big change. Amit Mishra’s eight not out off two deliveries and Mohd Shami’s two-ball four at the end sealed the issue.
At one point it looked uncertain for Delhi Daredevils, who lost three crucial wickets because of some superlative fielding by Suresh Raina and Co. First it was Raina who inflicted a superb run out from slip as Rishabh Pant (4) came out of the crease without realisingPradeepSangwan’sball had headed towards Raina off his pads. Two balls earlier Sanju Samson (10) was clean bowled by Sangwan trying to play pull shot on a short-pitch delivery.
Delhi men, who conceded many an extra runs because of their sloppy fielding during Gujarat Lions innings, couldn’t judge Ravindra Jadeja’s ability of hitting the stumps thereafter. In the 10th over, Jadeja had Marlon Samuels (1) out with a direct throw, before repeating it again in the 12th over and this time it was Corey Anderson.
Earlier, Australian Aaron Finch struck his second half-century in the Indian Premier League-10 to help hosts Gujarat Lions score 195 for five.
Finch, who had his best of 72 against Royal Challenger Bangalore at Bengaluru last month, didn’t spare Delhi Daredevils bowlers and struck 39-ball 69, which contained six fours and four sixes, after Zaheer Khan chose to field first after winning the toss.
He got out in the 19th over while trying to hit Mohd Shami’s full-length delivery for yet another four, but missed contact and the ball flattened his middle stump.
But before that he had set the tone for the side, adding a valuable 92 runs for the fourth-wicket with stylish Dinesh Karthik, who too showed his might with willow once again.