Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane and India veteran Amit Mishra combined for a spell of 8-0-55-6 to strangle Mumbai Indians chances of qualifying for 2018 VIVO IPL play-off’s as Delhi Daredevils notched up their 2nd consecutive win on a trot to finish the season on double digit points.
Delhi successfully defended their total of 174/4 at their home base in Ferozshah Kotla by bowling out Mumbai Indians for 163 to finish the season on a high with back-to-back victories over Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai respectively.
Sandeep (3/36) combined well with Mishra (3/19) and Harshal Patel (3/28) to bring back smiles on the faces of Delhi Daredevils management and fans as Head Coach Ricky Ponting showered praise on the young brigade in the squad.
Ponting acknowledged the fact that Sandeep has bowled really well in the three outings for the franchise after they were knocked out of play-off contention and defended the decision of not having him in the starting XI in the earlier part of the season, due to combination issues.
Fitting Sandeep into the playing XI was always a challenge for Delhi Daredevils, with the likes of Chris Morris (who played the first few matches before flying home injured), Trent Boult, Glen Maxwell & Jason Roy/Colin Munro being specialist T20 performers and pushing for slots between themselves for the maximum 4 allowed in the starting XI.
However, Ponting believes that Sandeep’s hard work and willingness to learn throughout his stint in the 2018 season will see him have a long and fruitful career in the IPL and hopes that the stint is with Delhi Daredevils for as long as possible.
Sandeep’s performance of 12-0-82-5 from the 3 games against RCB, CSK and MI have provided enough credibility for Delhi Daredevils to either retain him directly (unlikely with the franchise surely to retain Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and anyone of Maxwell/Mishra/Boult) or use the “Right-to-Match” card to bring him back into the squad for 2019 IPL.
