The last few matches did not go too well for us and should have rung the alarm bells. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Deccan Chargers played brilliantly to reach the IPL II final. A team finishing last the previous year and reaching the final this year, that’s truly great.
Going into Friday’s match, our priority was to win and reach the final and then worry about the title. However, the ghost of last year’s IPL came back to haunt us.
It was a crunch match and we wanted to bat first. To our good fortune, we got to bat first even after losing the toss. Unfortunately, we got off to a bad start. I got out to the fourth ball of the innings and David Warner was gone the very next ball. I was really hoping to perform in the semifinals as these are the matches where one needs to perform. Unfortunately it did not happen on Friday.
After Warner’s dismissal, there was some controversy as A.B. de Villiers was sent back because Tillakaratne Dilshan had entered the field first.
I am not too sure what exactly happened, as I was devastated at losing my wicket. Anyway, Viru and Dilshan steadied the ship and were going along well. By the end of the 10th over, we had scored 83, which was good by any standard.
{{/usCountry}}I am not too sure what exactly happened, as I was devastated at losing my wicket. Anyway, Viru and Dilshan steadied the ship and were going along well. By the end of the 10th over, we had scored 83, which was good by any standard.
{{/usCountry}}The duo played really well and had Viru stayed on a bit longer, we would have had a much bigger score. But we lost him at a crucial juncture. A.B. and Dilshan then scored some runs but we started losing wickets regularly. A 150 on the board is a decent score but I felt we were some runs short. Truth to tell, in Twenty20, you never know what is the right score to defend.
Gilchrist’s blitzkrieg assured me that we were certainly more than a few runs short. What an innings he played. It was mesmerising and, if I were not part of the opposing team, I would have certainly paid to watch the innings. None of our bowlers were spared and the ball was sent to all parts of the stadium.
We did not have an answer to him initially. All our bowlers got hit, so we really cannot single out anyone. It was a great knock and you get to see such knocks only once in a while.
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