Sehwag and Jayawardene in contrasting moods after Delhi’s resounding win in Indian Premier League 2011
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429 and his Kochi counterpart Mahela Jayawardene were in contrasting moods as the Daredevils scored an impressive win over the Tuskers in a low scoring competition on a sluggish wicket in Kochi, 30 April, 2011.
Sehwag was the difference between the two sides, the right hander made a big impact with the bat, smashing a belligerent 80 off only 47 balls to ensure that his team made the most of batting first on a wicket which wore off as the match went on.
Sehwag smoked the ball around the park early on, he kept bashing boundary after boundary as the Tuskers looked helpless in their attempt of stemming the rot, later speaking to media the big hitter stated that he wanted to impose himself on the match but knew well that he had to be responsible with his shot selection on a pitch that was offering something to the bowlers.
"The wicket was not easy to bat on but I took the responsibility to bat at least 15-16 overs. I was hitting the ball very nicely but we were losing wickets as well so it was obvious that I had to bat a little longer," Sehwag said. "If wickets would not have fallen, I could have gone after the bowling, but I told myself that if I stayed a little longer, then we could get to 120-130 which would be a good total on this wicket."
Sehwag’s innings propelled the visitors to a score past the 150-run mark, on a wicket where ordinary mortals found the going tough, Sehwag further stamped his class and reiterated to the pundits that he was a force to be reckoned with.
On the other hand the Kochi skipper, Mahela Jayawardene stated that Sehwag was indeed the difference between the two teams and he made it extremely tough for the bowlers to handle him. He felt that a score around the 130-140 run mark would be defendable but Sehwag’s assault towards the end catapulted the score to a steep mark.
"I think Viru batted very well, we knew he was very crucial for their innings and tried to get him but the way we bowled in the last 10 overs, I don't think we had any control of things." "130-140 probably would have been a very competitive score for us to chase down, but 160 was a bit tough," Jayawardene said.
Jayawardene was also upset with his bowlers, he feels that they did not do justice to the conditions and were guilty off ill-direction and not bowling in good areas.
He added that the bowlers were either too full or didn't hit the deck in the last ten overs which meant that all the hard work done at the start of the innings was undone in the latter stages of the innings.
He also lauded the efforts of his opposite number; the former Sri Lankan captain stated that the Delhi Dasher batted very well in the situation.
He concluded by saying that the bowlers could have easily restricted the score to around 130 which would have made the chase relatively easy for his batsmen. The Tuskers have had a real bad run off late; the batsmen have been exposed to two tricky wickets and have ended up at the receiving end both times.
Jayawardene hopes that his team would show improvement in both batting and bowling and make themselves count in the matches to come in the tournament.
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