New Delhi, April 30 Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody reckoned that Delhi Capitals (DC) made a tactical mistake by sending Axar Patel down at number seven during their run chase against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
DC failed to chase down the 198-run target as they were restricted to 188/6 in 20 overs. Mayank Markande led from the front with the ball with an excellent spell of 4-0-20-2 as SRH bowlers bounced back hard and survived Phil Salt (59 off 35) and Mitchell Marsh's blitzes (63 off 39) to break the three-match losing streak on Saturday night.
Axar was sent in to bat after the likes of Priyam Garg and Sarfaraz Khan, both of whom were dismissed cheaply and remained unbeaten on 29 off 14 balls. With 49 needed off 18, Axar smacked a six off Bhuvneshwar and took 14 off the 18th over. With 35 needed off 12, Natarajan bowled another excellent over as he nailed his yorkers and gave away just 9.
With 26 required off the last over, Bhuvneshwar held his nerve and helped SRH cross the finish line with the home team falling short by 10 runs.
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Moody said that Axar should have been sent in after the fall of Manish Pandey's wicket adding that being a left-hander, he could have dominated SRH's spinners in the run chase.
"The momentum is lost, and then Sarfaraz comes in, and then the whole puzzle around that, where is Axar Patel? Was he in the dressing room or collecting his kit out of the car? What was he doing?
"I don't understand why he didn't come in at the fall of the wicket of Manish Pandey. He is the most experienced player and an international player. He is in form and is a left-hander, and spin was operating. To me, it was a no-brainer," Moody said.
Chasing the formidable total, DC didn't get off to the best of starts as they lost skipper David Warner in the second ball of the innings. Then, Marsh and Salt joined hands in the middle and put the pressure right back on the SRH bowlers with breezy half-centuries and stitched together a brilliant 112-run stand for the second wicket, which Markande broke by dismissing Salt in the 12th over.
Moody further noted that the turning point in DC's run chase was Salt's dismissal as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals to end up on the losing side.
"The key point to that was the caught and bowled from Markande. That was a very good catch. Philip Salt was running hot and we know he has got that capability. We haven't seen it in the IPL yet, but we have seen it on the international stage.
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