Amit Mishra spins Daredevils to victory

It’s not only a batsman’s game anymore!

In a game dominated by batsmen, unsung leg-spinner Amit Mishra picked up five wickets, including a hat-trick in the crucial last over of the match, to keep Delhi Daredevils afloat in the DLF-Indian Premier League.

Leg spinner Amit Mishra took a hat-trick as Delhi Daredevils beat Deccan Chargers by 12 runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 match at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium here Thursday. Chasing a target of 195, Deccan Chargers scored 182 for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs. Mishra removed Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh off successive balls in a dramatic last over to record the second hat-trick of the tournament. His final figures read 4-0-17-5.

Earlier put in to bat, the hosts lost skipper Virender Sehwag (0) in the first over, but Gambhir and Dhawan shared 133 runs in just over 14 overs to give the innings direction even though the hosts eventually fell shy of the 200-mark.

Gautam Gambhir was the top scorer with 79 while Shikhar Dhawan made 68.Gambhir's 48-ball pyrotechnics was studded with seven hits to the fence and three sixes. Dhawan's sedate unbeaten knock spanned 52 balls and included eight boundaries.

The duo laid the perfect foundation for a late burst but Gambhir's dismissal, stumped off a wide ball from Pragyan Ojha, came as anti-climax. But with Farveez Maharoof (19 off 11) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (16 off 6 balls) weighing in with useful cameos, Delhi went on to end up with 194 for four what proved a match-winning score.

The scores:

Delhi Daredevils: G. Gambhir st. Gilchrist b Ojha 79, V. Sehwag c R.P. Singh b Vijaykumar 0, S. Dhawan (not out) 68, F. Mahroof c Rohit b Ojha 19, T. Dilshan (run out) 16, Manoj Tiwary (not out) 4; Extras (lb-3, w-5): 8; Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 194.
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-140, 3-166, 4-190.

Deccan Chargers bowling: Vijaykumar 4-0-24-1, R.P. Singh 4-0-50-0, Sarvesh 3-0-24-0, Styris 4-0-33-0, Venugopala Rao 2-0-23-0, Afridi 1-0-18-0, Ojha 2-0-19-2.

Deccan Chargers: A. Gilchrist c Dilshan b McGrath 14, S. Afridi c (sub) de Villiers b Mishra 33, H. Gibbs b Mishra 22, Rohit b Maharoof 35, S. Styris c (sub) de Villiers b Maharoof 29, Venugopala Rao c (sub) Malik b McGrath 34, Ravi Teja c (sub) Malik b Mishra 9, R.P. Singh st. Karthik b Mishra 1, P. Ojha c Dilshan b Mishra 0, P. Vijaykumar (not out) 1, P.M. Sarvesh Kumar (not out) 1; Extras (b-1, w-2): 3; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 182.

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-71, 3-75, 4-114, 5-154, 6-171, 7-180, 8-180, 9-180.

Delhi Daredevils bowling: McGrath 4-0-42-2, Asif 4-0-51-0, Maharoof 4-0-39-2, Mishra 4-0-17-5, Bhatia 4-0-32-0.