New Delhi: They had just three wins from their first nine matches and every match from there on was a knock-out match for them. They needed five wins out of five games and coming into their last league game against the formidable Delhi Daredevils, Deccan had made it one needed out of one. It was a virtual quarterfinal between Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils, with the winner going through to the semi-finals… and it was the Chargers, who completed a fairytale comeback in the third season of the Indian Premier League, to beat Delhi by 11 runs and cement their place in the semi-finals.

The Deccan Chargers won a crucial toss on a slow Kotla pitch and they almost squandered away that advantage. Batting first, Deccan were struggling at 66-4 before Andrew Symonds slammed 54 off 30 balls to resurrect the Chargers innings. Symonds bludgeoned five sixes and three boundaries in his brutal half-century. But just when the Chargers seemed poised to get a big score, Symonds hit one straight to Mithun Manhas and the momentum shifted back in Delhi’s favour.

Mitchell Marsh (13 off 19), who gave Symonds solid company in a 50-run stand in just over five overs, could not continue the attack once Symonds was dismissed as the Deccan lower order found it difficult to score against some sharp Delhi bowling.  A few contributions from the lower order helped Deccan reach a competitive 145 for 7 in their 20 overs. For Delhi, Umesh Yadav and Ashish Nehra picked up two wickets each.

Chasing 146 to cement a place in the semis, Delhi got off to a horrible start. David Warner (5) and Virender Sehwag (8) fell early. Tillakaratne Dilshan (11) and Gautam Gambhir (4) too didn’t fire when it was needed and they were looking straight down the barrel at 39-4 in the seventh over.

Mithun Manhas (23) and Paul Collingwood (51 not out) then showed some resistance and consolidated the Delhi innings. Collingwood kept Delhi in the hunt even as wickets kept falling at the other end.  Delhi needed 37 runs from the last three overs, with Collingwood and Ashish Nehra in the middle. But the young paceman Harmeet Singh conceded just one big hit in the 18^th over as Deccan tightened their grip on the match.

Chaminda Vaas, back in the team for the crucial game in place of Ryan Harris, bowled a brilliant last over to end Delhi’s semi-final dreams.

Pragyan Ojha was once again the pick of the bowlers for Deccan, strangling the Delhi batsmen in the middle-overs and finishing with figures of 2-16 off his four overs.

This is the first time in the history of IPL that Delhi hasn’t made it to the semi-finals and they have only themselves to blame for it. They needed just two wins out of their last five games to qualify for the semis but they could win just one in what was a dramatic turnaround of fortunes.

So, after 55 games and over a month into the tournament, we finally have the final four of the Indian Premier League season 3. In the first semi-final, the Mumbai Indians will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday and the second semi-final will be played between Deccan Chargers and the Chennai Super Kings on Thursday at the same venue.

Match Summary:

Deccan Chargers 145 for 7 (Symonds 54) beat Delhi Daredevils 134 for 7 (Collingwood 51*, Ojha 2-16) by 11 runs

Man of the Match: Andrew Symonds

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