Bengaluru, Sept. 20: All the odds seemed to be stacked against the Delhi Capitals, as they struggled to put runs on the board. But as we have seen in T20 cricket, one over is all it takes to turn the game on its head.
After Shikhar Dhawan was run out for a duck and opener Prithvi Shaw went for 5, the Delhi team pulled up with a solid partnership between Rishabh Pant (31) and captain Shreyas Iyer (39). But once that partnership was broken, Delhi struggled against Punjab’s lethal attack led by Mohammed Shami.
The India regular was his clinical best as he turned in figures of 4-0-15-3 to keep Delhi in check. But the last few overs of the match saw the fortunes of the Delhi team turn as Marcus Stoinis took over the reigns.
Stoinis played an explosive knock as he scored 53 off just 21 deliveries. His innings was studded with seven boundaries and three sixes. Even though the 31-year-old Australian was run out in the last over, Stoinis left Chris Jordan with nightmares in the final over.
The last over of the match saw Jordan conceding 30 runs, and that could be the difference of the game. The last over will surely haunt Jordan for a while, especially if Punjab lose the match. With that expensive over, Jordan joined a list of the costliest overs in the IPL.
Following the explosive innings Stoinis said, I think the partnership that Shreyas had with Rishabh was important, we were in a tough spot there. We were sort of looking for 130-140 after the early wickets. [That last over for 30] Yeah it was handy, that can happen in cricket. A lot of bowlers are going wider to me these days, so I've got to work on that stuff. [Walking across the stumps] was part of the game plan.”
The last over, once again proved the unpredictable nature of T20 cricket.