Delhi Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag conceded that the delivery Ben Hilfenhaus bowled to clean him up was an "unplayable" one while winning captain MS Dhoni lauded his players for playing "authentic cricket."
"Full credit to CSK [Chennai Super Kings] for the manner they played. It was always going to be difficult to defend a total like 115. As far as my footwork goes, I don't need to change anything. But Hilfenhaus bowled an unplayable delivery. It was swinging away which you couldn't have done anything about," Sehwag said after the match.
Daredevils are still leading the points table and Sehwag is banking on two home matches out of their remaining three encounters to make a smooth entry into the playoffs. "We have two matches against Kings XI [Punjab] and RCB [Royal Challengers Bangalore] at home and hopefully we will win those to make it to the playoffs," he said.
Dhoni said when a team chases a low total, it is imperative that the openers give a good start. "We needed to get a good start and play the new ball well. Also we needed to play shots off loose deliveries. We needed to play authentic cricket. Hussey and Vijay gave us a good start," Dhoni said. He also gave Hilfenhaus credit for his superb show with the ball. "It was not swinging too much after the first couple of overs, so we needed to keep Hilfenhaus for the death overs. He has given us that extra spark. With Albie [Morkel] bowling well with him and openers doing well too, it augurs well for us."
Man-of-the-Match Hilfenhaus said that he did "enjoy" bowling that delivery to Sehwag but was happy that they performed well as a unit. "Good to start well and put them [Delhi] under pressure. I would be lying if I say I did not enjoy that [Sehwag's dismissal] one. We did well as a group. But I still need to improve my bowling at the death," Hilfenhaus said.
PTI