Chennai edge out Delhi in last-ball finish (Delhi Daredevils Innings Highlights - IPL 28th Match)

Chennai kept their nerves as S Badrinath and Manpreet Gony emerged unlikely heroes to edge out Delhi in a last-ball finish at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday.


Delhi appeared to have missed a trick as captain Virender Sehwag used up frontline bowlers Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif as Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik was left to bowl the final over with 15 runs to get. Gony was up to the task, smashing the first ball for a towering six before a wide dampened Delhi's hopes.


Gony struck another boundary next ball but boiled down to the final ball as Badrinath was on strike with a run to win. Shikhar Dhawan nearly pulled off a sensational catch in the deep but the Chennai dressing room erupted as the ball trickled out of the fielder's hands to hand Chennai their first win after three straight defeats.


Earlier, Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir smashed 80 from 49 balls to lift his side to 187-5 before Chennai began their pursuit in fine fashion, with openers S Vidyut and Stephen Fleming flaying the Delhi attack.


Delhi pulled back with quick wickets before Albie Morkel got Chennai back on track, smashing captain Virender Sehwag for 23 runs in an over that included three consecutive sixes.


Put in to bat in the return leg by MS Dhoni, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir provided the home side with a rollicking start before Chennai bowlers Manpreet Gony and Albie Morkel struck in succession to remove Sehwag (23) and AB de Villiers (0) to pull the hosts back. But Gambhir, along with left-hander Shikhar Dhawan wrested the initiative back with a 121-run third-wicket partnership.




Delhi, having by far the best top order in the tournament, once again profited from them as Gambhir notched up his third half-century of the tournament, once again becoming the leading run-scorer while Dhawan, too, reached yet another fifty in the competition.


Laxmipathy Balaji, playing his first game after a prologned battle with injury, marked his return to top-flight cricket with two wickets in the final stages, while Albie Morkel chipped in with two wickets as well.


Chennai, who lost three in three after winning their first four games, were thrown off kilter by the departure of Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Jacob Oram, which prompted them to revise their startegies as they won the toss and opted to field.


Delhi had won their first leg match against Chennai by eight wickets. Both teams went into the match with eight points. But while Delhi have played six matches so far, Chennai have figured in seven.


Delhi and Chennai both have eight points each.


The teams:


Delhi: Virender Sehwag (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, AB de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary, Pradeep Sangwan, Yo Mahesh, Glenn McGrath, Mohammad Asif.


Chennai:Mahendra Dhoni (capt), Parthiv Patel, Stephen Fleming, Suresh Raina, Arun Karthik, Abhinav Mukund, Manpreet Goni, Albie Morkel, Joginder Sharma, Sudeep Tyagi, Muttiah Muralitharan.