How many times have we heard cricket captains say this?. This statement holds well on most of the occasions. There are however a few instances like giving your best might just not be good enough. Usually in situations like this, it is the work of a genius, an unstoppable force that thwarts the spirit of the opposing team which finally ends up on the losing side. The semi-final match of the second IPL between Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers was one such instance and it was brutal power of Adam Gilchrist that ended all hopes of the Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.
Coming into the semi-final, the Delhi Daredevils team was in red hot form winning 10 of their 14 matches. Deccan Chargers after starting off well in the tournament with 4 wins lost their way and was the 4th team to make it to the semifinals with 7 wins and 7 defeats edging out Kings XI Punjab on net run-rate. Delhi Daredevils was clearly the favourite going into the match. Deccan Chargers were a capable team but then they needed something special to pull of an upset. In the end their captain Adam Gilchrist did the special act for them.
Chasing a target of 154, it was important for Deccan Chargers to get off a good start. One of their big players i.e. Gilchrist, Gibbs, Symonds and Rohit Sharma had to make a big score for them to win the match. Delhi had already had a taste of Gilchrist’s prowess in the league match when we smashed a 64 off 33 balls. It was only Rajat Bhatia's canny bowling and an irresponsible display by the Deccan lower order that saved the match for Delhi. It was imperative for Delhi not to allow a Gilchrist, Gibbs or Symonds stay at the wicket for too long since they had the capacity to take the match away from them.
The first ball from Nannes was defended by Gilchrist. The next ball was a wide. And then it was all mayhem. The second ball that was pitched short was dispatched to the square leg boundary. The next one went in the opposite direction. The next one was over backward point. The next was in the gap between mid-off and cover. The last shot of the over was a mere defensive push by Gilchrist that raced to the boundary. All different places but the result was the same - a four. 21 runs came off the first over.Nehra ensured that it wouldn't storm from both ends by nailing Gibbs. It was 24 at the end of 2 overs. Pradeep Sangwan who had troubled Gilchrist in the league match was brought in It didn't make much of a difference this time though with the first two balls disappearing for boundaries on either sides of the wicket. Sangwan bowled the next ball further up but the result was the maximum for Gilchrist who swung him across the line and planted the ball 20 rows over the deep midwicket fence. Nehra bowled his second over trying to stem the full but Gilchrist was at his best hitting him for a six and a four.
At the end of 5 overs Deccan was on 59 for the loss of one wicket with Gilchrist making 51 of those off just 19 balls. Delhi had to do something now to stop Gilchrist who was in a hurry to take his team to the final. Delhi captain Sehwag who had an ordinary IPL came in to try and stop his opposite number. Gilchrist however was in no mood to relent and hit him for a four and 3 sixes in that over. Spin or pace didn't seem to make any difference to him. The fielders turned mere spectators watching the ball disappear to different parts of the ground. In fact the spectators seemed to have a better chance of catching the ball than them. There was another spectator too at the non-striker end. Azhar Bilakhia had made 5 off 11 balls till then and was perhaps thanking his stars for getting to watch an innings of the highest order from close quarters. The fact that it was a power-play didn't help Delhi either. Deccan Chargers had made more than half of their target 84 runs in the first 6 overs and needed a mere 70 runs off the remaining 14 overs. Gilchrist hit another couple of boundaries before holing out to Nannes off Mishra. The match was literally over by then with Deccan needing less than a ball. (52 off 60 balls.).
Over the past decade, one got to witness such high octane knocks from Gilchrist. His knocks in test matches usually came at a situation where the opposite had Australia in a spot of a bother only to be blown away by Gilchrist. His one-day innings at the top of the order often helped Australia get off a fiery start and chase competitive totals with ridiculous season. In the 20-20 arena, his century last year against Mumbai Indians was a breathtaking effort but in the end it was just a one of very few victories for Deccan Chargers which finished at the bottom of the table in IPL-1. Coming into this season with the added responsibility of leading the side Gilchirst was determined to put on a better show and prove his team's worth. His cameos in this tournament helped Deccan win a few matches and make it to the semifinals. Gilchrist somehow managed to reserve his best for this moment against the best side of the tournament thus far. They did give their best on the field, but then as many international teams realized over the past decade there was nothing much that they could do.
P.S - The image is taken from www.cricinfo.com
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