IPL 9 Match 23: DD v GL – 5 Talking Points

The Gujarat Lions and the Delhi Daredevils had their task cut out prior to their head-on clash at Delhi – win the match and get to the top of the points table. A win for DD would have meant that they would at least swap positions with the second-ranked Gujarat Lions while for the GL a win would have meant 10 points and that would take them to the top of the points tally.

Having won the toss, the Delhi Daredevils put in Gujarat Lions to bat first. The move seemed to have backfired as Lions’ openers Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum attacked right from the word go. A little routine check by the Daredevils bowlers in the middle overs saw GL being restricted to 172/6 in their 20 overs. The Daredevils were pretty much out of the game in the first half of their chase until a Chris Morris special brought them to the driver’s seat. They were only unlucky to have lost from that stage and after such a special knock from Morris.

Here are the 5 talking points from the match:

1. Absence of Finch – Smith and McCullum lead the onslaught:

Gujarat Lions suffered a major setback ahead of the game as their leading run scorer this season, Aaron Finch, was ruled out of the game following a hamstring injury. However, Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum ensured that the Lions don’t feel his absence. The duo absolutely hammered the opposition bowling to all parts of the park. They raced to 71/0 in the powerplay. The onslaught continued as the openers put on 112 of just 64 balls for the opening wicket. Both the batsmen brought up their half centuries. Smith scored 53 off 30 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes while McCullum hit 60 off just 36 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. The partnership was broken in the 11th over when Imran Tahir trapped Smith right in front of the stumps.

How did Twitter react to the McCullum-Smith storm? – Twitter Reactions: Delhi Daredevils restrict GL to 172 after McCullum-Smith storm

2. Morris-Tahir Spell and the middle-order collapse:

At one stage, the Gujarat Lions were threatening to post in excess of 200. However, the Delhi bowlers did really well in the middle overs to pull the match back to balance. Tahir trapped Smith on 53 in the 11th over. In the 12th over, Morris got rid of McCullum and in span of 4 balls, both the set batsman were back in the hut. In the same over, Morris got rid of the Gujarat Lions skipper too. The middle-order of the lions collapsed thereafter and no batsmen barring Dinesh Karthik and James Faulkner could reach the double figures. Tahir bowled beautifully in the middle overs phase. Tahir finished with figures of 3/24 in his four overs while Morris picked up 2/35 in his 4 overs.

3. Delhi’s top-order rocked by Kulkarni:

Gujarat Lions bowler DhawalKulkarni had a dream spell bowling against the Daredevils. He started off the proceedings with a maiden and got rid of the Delhi top order in no time. He got the wicket of Sanju Samson in the 2nd over of the match dismissing him for just 2 runs. In his next over, he got the priced scalp of Quinton de Kock, the leading run-scorer for Delhi Daredevils this season.  In the same over, he got the wicket of Karun Nair too. Though he didn’t get a wicket in his third over, his spell of 3/12 in 3 overs in the powerplay put the roadblocks on the Delhi’s chase. Delhi were stuttering at 16/3 and by the end of the powerplay, they could post just 22 on the board.

4. Morris attack:

Delhi Daredevils were staring at a defeat with just 57 runs on the board in 10.4 overs when Chris Morris came in to bat. The South African all-rounder had his own plans for the night though. While Duminy was happy giving the strike to Morris, Morris absolutely clobbered the bowlers all around the ground. Morris not only got the asking rate back in the range, but also dismantled the entire bowling unit of Lions to an extent that skipper Raina had to throw the ball to Dwayne Smith. It was the 17th over of the match and Morris hammered 3 consecutive sixes and in the process brought up the fastest fifty of this season, in just 17 balls! By the end of the 17th over, Morris was striking at a strike rate of 315, with 58 off just 19 balls. Chris Morris was only unlucky to have finished on the losing side after a breathtaking unbeaten knock of 82 that came off just 32 balls with 4 boundaries and 8 towering sixes, one of them going 101m long!

5. Praveen Kumar’s bowling and the close finish:

It would only be unfair not to mention the name of Praveen Kumar in the talking points. In a match where almost every bowler got hammering at some stage or the other, it was Praveen Kumar, who gave absolutely nothing away in his spell. He started off well by keeping things tight in the powerplay. Later, when Morris was going berserk and firing on all cylinders, it was PK who bowled the penultimate over. Needing 18 off the last two overs, PK gave away just 4 runs to keep the Daredevils away from the  hunt. He finished with figures of 0/13 in his 4 overs. The last over was bowled by Dwayne Bravo, and despite some herculean batting by Chris Morris, the Delhi Daredevils fell short by 1 run and lost the match.

How did Twitter react to the match? – Twitter Reactions: Gujarat Lions win a thriller despite Morris’ heroics