Daredevils can qualify for IPL playoffs, says Mishra
NEW DELHI: Delhi Daredevils’ sixwicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Tuesday was more relevant than one way. It not only ended a five-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but also saw the whole team performing as a unit.
All the top-five batsmen contributed with 25-plus scores, as Delhi Daredevils chased down Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 186-run target in 19.1 overs. The bowlers also choked Sunrisers Hyderabad’s runs at one stage but for Yuvraj Singh’s brilliance SRH reached a 180-plus total. It was, however, not enough to stop DD.
“In the past few matches our batting was not able to click . Today batting wise we did well. Bowling has been our strength throughout the tournament. And to today out batsmen did not make any mistake. I want to give credit to the full team for today’s success,” Amit Mishra, who gave away just 23 runs in his four overs, said after the match.
Daredevils are currently in sixth spot with six points from nine games and the spinner believes that his team has a fair chance to qualify for the play-offs.
“We are going match by match. We are very positive going into the next matches. We have got a very good team. If we can win our next five match, we can qualify for the play-offs,” he said.
Delhi Daredevils play a series of home matches in the next four days and it might well decide their fate in the tournament. Mishra feels that though their win was inspiring, it was not perfect and there were several areas where there was scope for improvement.
“Today we made several fielding lapses. We need to be very careful in this area. Coming matches are very crucial for us and we cannot afford to make such mistakes in the coming matches,” Mishra said.
Sanju Samson had dropped Yuvraj Singh in the 17th over, when he was on 29 runs and SRH on 129/3. The left-hander then went on to score 70 as SRH reached 185/3. It could have proved to costly, but for DD batsmen’s collective effort.