I was confident of a win once I batted 15 overs: Sehwag

Hyderabad: Daredevils' captain Virender Sehwag rated his match-winning hundred against Deccan Chargers as one of his best in Twenty20 format and said he was confident of achieving the target once he had batted beyond the 15th over.

Sehwag smashed 119 off 56 balls to single-handedly take his team to a four wicket win over the Chargers Thursday night. Chasing down 176 is a challenge on any surface but Sehwag felt the target was well within reach as long as he stayed at the crease. 

"I never got a 100 in T20s. First six overs did not go our way as we were 29 for three in six overs. Since they didn't have a fifth bowler, I thought if I can target their fourth and fifth bowler, we would be able to achieve this target," Sehwag said at the post-match press conference. 

"The moment I got 23 runs in Ishan Malhotra's over, the momentum shifted in our favour. I knew if I could bat 15 or 16 overs, the target should be achievable." 

The emphatic win here has given a ray of hope to the Daredevils, who are placed at seventh position in the points table with four wins from 10 matches. Sehwag said they will go all out in the remaining games as they have got nothing to lose.

"We don't have any pressure now as we have to win all four games. We have nothing to lose. Nobody is expecting us to reach the semi-finals. If you have nothing to lose and if you play freely and fearlessly, you can achieve the goal. We have to enjoy and have a little bit of luck going our way," he said. 

Sehwag said he still has not lost hope of qualifying for the play-off amongst the top four teams.  "Deccan Chargers last year won five games in a row. So hopefully, this time Delhi Daredevils will emulate them." 

The India opener said he needs to be more consistent in the coming matches as he is the senior-most member of a young team.

"If you look at the 10 games that we have played, I have performed in only three matches. In that respect, even I have not been consistent. I have to accept the maximum responsibility as most of the players, save myself and Venugopal Rao, do not have much experience. It takes time to build up a good team," he concluded. Source: IANS