Morris' heroics in vain; GL wins by a run

Daredevils, which was catching up for the better part of the match, fell short by a run after Chris Morris almost single-handedly changed the course of the match, first with the ball and then with the bat.

After a jittery start, Chris Morris's 32-ball 82 took Delhi Daredevils very close to victory.

What could have been a truly memorable victory for Delhi Daredevils turned out to be a heartbreaking loss to Gujarat Lions.

Daredevils, which was catching up for the better part of the match, fell short by a run after Chris Morris almost single-handedly changed the course of the match, first with the ball and then with the bat.

Morris’ game-changing two for 32 followed by a blistering 32-ball 82, unbeaten, inclusive of eight sixes and four fours almost won it for Delhi.

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Chasing 173 to win, Daredevils tottered at 16 for three at one stage and ended at 171 for five, failing to get four runs off the last ball bowled by Dwayne Bravo.

Daredevils owe it to Morris and Jean-Paul Duminy, who added 87 runs for the fifth wicket to raise Daredevils’ hopes against all odds.

The 17th over, bowled by Dwayne Smith, saw Morris hit a hat-trick of sixes and reached his fifty in just 17 deliveries. With 21 runs scored in the over, the equation read 29 runs off 18 deliveries. Though Duminy fell soon, Morris kept Daredevils in the hunt.

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In the last over, Daredevils needed 14 to win. Morris and Pawan Negi managed 10 off five deliveries. Off the last, Morris could only manage two runs and left Gujarat victor by the narrowest of margins.

The all-round effort of Morris overshadowed the riot caused by Lions openers Brandon McCullum and Dwayne Smith who smashed 112 runs in 10.4 overs before Daredevils dramatically restricted Lions to 172 for six.

Fresh from blasting Royal Challengers Bangalore attack to smithereens, the duo put 50 on the board of just 3.5 overs. By the time the six-over power play ended, the score read 71 without loss.

It all started with Zaheer’s opening over from which Dwayne Smith collected four boundaries. Thereafter, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and Zaheer went for two sixes each over the next three overs as the Lions posted the fastest 50 of the season.

The introduction of Chris Morris failed to slow down the Lions as McCullum hit him for a six and four to take the score to 63 from five overs.

McCullum completed his fifty off 27 deliveries, one more than what Smith needed. After 10 overs, the score was 110 without loss but the next 10 saw only 62 runs for the loss of six wickets.