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Virender Sehwag proved that he is definitely the most feared batsman in all forms of cricket butchering the Deccan Chargers attack with a 56 ball innings of 119 to lead the Delhi Daredevils to an incredible win. Sehwag had a slow start and was losing partners quickly but he came into his own and smashed every bowler around the park. He had his fair share of luck in the field, but he hit the ball as clean as anyone could, smashing 13 fours and 6 sixes. Sehwag's brutal innings helped Delhi to a 4-wicket win in Hyderabad, overshadowing some great performances from the Chargers' batsmen, who had done really well to score 175 in their 20 overs. JP Duminy top scored with 57 while captain Kumar Sangakkara chipped in with 44. Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma were right on the money as both picked up 2 wickets each and conceded just 40 runs from their 8 overs. However, the remaining 11 overs bowled went for 139, an incredible 12.6 runs per over.

Two teams languishing at the bottom of the Indian Premier League and desperately trying to stay in the competition were up against each other in the 8pm kick-off in Hyderabad. It was the perfect make or break situation for both two sides. A win would give them some much needed hope and could be the beginning of a killer winning spree that sees them through to the play-offs, while defeat would be an early sign asking the players to pack their bags.

Virender Sehwag won the toss and decided to make first use of the conditions by bowling. The Delhi Daredevils made three changes, looking to turn around their fate. David Warner had struggled in the last few games and was left out for Aaron Finch. James Hopes was fit to play and Aavishkar Salvi was given his first game of the tournament. Deccan left out Pragyan Ojha because of the green top and Ishant Malhotra was picked instead of him.

Shikhar Dhawan started the innings with a copy book style cover drive but he almost lost his wicket on the very next delivery as he edged the ball past the slips to the boundary. Aavishkar Salvi, playing his first match in IPL 4, came in to the attack and gave Delhi the breakthrough taking the wicket of suprising choice for opener, Ravi Teja for 2. Kumara Sangakkara came in at his usual no.3 spot and batted with great aplomb, dealing only in boundaries and demolishing the bowlers. The Deccan batsmen were in the good books of lady luck as the ball whistled past the stumps on a number of occasions. The boundaries didn’t dry up though as Captain Charisma hit three classy boundaries off Morne Morkel to take Deccan to 43 by the end of the 6 over mandatory powerplay.

Deccan took control of their innings as their 50 came up in the just the 8th over. The edges kept flying but there was no-one to grab them and get Delhi a wicket. Sangakkara was given an extra life when Morkel dropped a sitter that could have seen the back of the aggressive Sri Lankan. Shikhar Dhawan perished after scoring 29 off just 18 balls as tried to accelerate. Sangakkara kept going strong and the fans were delighted to see their captain play well and lead by example. His innings though came to an end after scoring 44 when one of his many attempted slogs landed in the hands of his counterpart Virender Sehwag. JP Duminy and Daniel Christian were in the middle together to take them through to the end. Duminy started with a fabulous six off James Hopes to stop Delhi from making a swift comeback into the game.

The stage was set for the duo to go berserk and give Deccan a formidable total. And to give them the impetus they required the most dramatic over one would ever witness was bowled by Yogesh Nagar. After bowling 2 wides, Nagar got the wicket of Duminy but the delivery was deemed as a no-ball. If that wasn’t enough he did it again as Christian top edged one and Asad Rauf asked the TV umpire to confirm the no-ball which the man upstairs did. The two free hits were dispatched for boundaries and any total looked possible then. Duminy wasn’t stopping and hit his third maximum off Ajit Agarkar to give Deccan the upper hand. The 150 came up as Deccan were on their way for a humongous total.

Duminy hit a monstrous six to bring up his 50 off just 30 balls but was run out soon after for 55. Bharat Chipli (1) hit one miles up into the air that was grabbed safely by Aaron Finch. Deccan finished with 175, a total they would not have fathomed before Duminy entered the fray. They scored 108 runs in the last 10 overs all thanks to JP Duminy and his slam bam approach. Only two bowlers - Ajit Agarkar and Avishkar Salvi - had figures that showed some semblance of respectability.

Dale Steyn was always going to pose a challenge and he stamped his authority straight away finding the edge of Finch’s bat to send the opener packing. Sehwag opened his account with a nervy boundary past second slip that held everyone’s breath for a moment. Ishant Sharma was in full flow as well and both fast bowlers put Delhi on the back foot. Viru wasn’t attempting anything flashy and took the responsibility to take his team forward. Sharma found the edge of Naman Ojha’s bat who scored just 7, giving Delhi some real food for thought. Runs weren’t coming at a T20 pace though the odd extras were easing the pressure a little bit. Venugopal Rao (3) couldn’t handle the pressure and top edged a short ball from Sharma. Deccan were all over Delhi as they managed just 29 runs in the powerplay with 3 lads back in the pavilion.

Sehwag launched into debutant Ishan Malhotra, hitting him out of the park off the first couple of balls and following them up with two bludgeoning boundaries. The match was back on with Sehwag finding some form and playing a captain’s knock. He was on to Christian as well and dispatched him to the boundary whenever the bowler pitched the ball in his half. 36 runs in 2 overs just before the strategic time-out had given Delhi some much needed momentum and Sehwag some much needed confidence to take the attack to the opposition.

Viru didn’t let Amit Mishra settle either and smashed him out of the park first ball after the timeout. He reached his 50 with the shot and also snatched the orange cap from Sachin Tendulkar while doing so. Amidst all the action Sehwag was dropped on 54 and the Delhi owners were jumping in their seats. If 36 weren’t enough, 17 more were added in the 10th over to bolster Delhi to a commanding position. But Sehwag was running out of partners as Travis Birt departed for just 4 and players at the other end were crumbling like a deck of cards. Irfan Pathan pulled Christian away for his first boundary as his parents watched him play from the stands with pride. Sehwag was given another chance as Delhi reached 100 and he had scored 78 of those runs. Even Steyn couldn’t keep Sehwag quiet as he smashed him for two consecutive boundaries.

The required rate was hovering around 12 at one stage but it was down to 8 after Sehwag had done some damage. Sehwag reached his century off just 48 balls and celebrated it with two massive sixes which is typical for the Nawab of Najafgarh. The required rate went below 6 and it was just about batting sensibly from then on to reach the total. The 150 came up in the 16th over as Delhi inched closer and closer to another Sehwag inspired victory.

But the tale hadn’t finished yet as Steyn finally got rid of Sehwag just after the second time-out. Sehwag played one of the greatest T20 innings ever scoring 119 off just 56 balls in a game which saw the rest of the team contribute less than 50 runs. Deccan breathed a sigh of relief and there was a glimmer of hope for the home fans as the Sehwag Smashing had come to a close. Enter James Hopes, and the Aussie hit consecutive boundaries to take Delhi closer to a memorable win. Yogesh Nagar finished the game off with a six as Delhi rose from the ashes and snatched victory from Deccan’s hands.

If anyone could pull off a chase like this it would surely be Virender Sehwag and such a knock must give his team a great deal of confidence. They move upto 7th place in the table and need to keep winning in order to stake a claim for the play-offs, and it wouldn’t be impossible if Sehwag keeps playing the same way. They face the table-toppers Mumbai Indians next at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday and if they win that game, it could well be the begining of a miraculous run.

The Deccan Chargers are out of the reckoning for the play-offs, but they do have pride to play for and can spoil the party for many other teams in contention for a final four spot. They play the Pune Warriors next Tuesday, in a genuine battle of the basement dwellers with both teams trying hard to avoid ending up with the wooden spoon.

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils: Aaron Finch, Virender Sehwag(c), Naman Ojha(wk), Yogesh Nagar, Venugopal Rao, Travis Birt, James Hopes, Irfan Pathan, Morne Morkel, Ajit Agarkar, Avishkar Salvi

Deccan Chargers: Sunny Sohal, Shikhar Dhawan, Kumar Sangakkara (c & wk), JP Duminy, Daniel Christian, Ravi Teja, Bharat Chipli, Amit Mishra, Dale Steyn, Ishant Malhotra, Ishant Sharma

Mini Scorecard:

Deccan Chargers 175/5 in 20 overs (8.75 Runs per over)
JP Duminy    55(31)   A Agarkar    2-29
K Sangakkara   44(36)   A Salvi    1-26 

Delhi Daredevils 179/6 in 19 overs (9.42 runs per over)
V Sehwag   119(56)   I Sharma   2-16
J Hopes    17*(10)   D Steyn    2-24

Delhi Daredevils won by 4 wickets