DELHICIOUS
Table-topper DC crushes SRH by eight wickets to earn its seventh win of the IPL 2021 season
A vintage Delhi Capitals stormed back to the top of the Indian Premier League table with a convincing eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Wednesday.
Set to chase a modest score of 135, Delhi reached the target at a canter with more than two overs to spare. This was Delhi’s seventh win from nine matches, while Hyderabad is rooted to the bottom with just a solitary win from eight games.
Despite losing opener Prithvi Shaw cheaply for 11, Delhi’s seasoned campaigner Shikhar Dhawan, who made 42 (37b, 6x4, 1x6), and comeback man Shreyas Iyer added 52 runs for the second wicket to steady the ship. After Dhawan’s dismissal, captain Rishabh Pant batted with customary zeal striking a few lusty blows in an entertaining knock of 35 not out (21b, 3x4, 2x6). Iyer batted with confidence after missing the first leg of the IPL because of shoulder injury and remained unbeaten on 47 (41b, 2x4, 2x6).
Earlier, Hyderabad put up a dismal batting performance to manage a meagre 134 for nine. The script didn’t turn out as SRH wanted after opting to bat as it lost David Warner (0) off the third ball of the innings without any runs on the board.
Wriddhiman Saha (18) then added 29 runs with skipper Kane Williamson (18) before the former mistimed a pull to Dhawan at mid-wicket off Kagiso Rabada.
Williamson and Manish Pandey tried to build the innings, stitching 31 runs for the third wicket, but SRH soon suffered a jolt when its skipper gave a simple catch to Shimron Hetmyer at long-off off Axar Patel. Pandey (17) followed suit and Kedar Jadhav (3) too didn’t help his cause either.
Damage already done, Abdul Samad (28 off 21, 2x4s, 1x6) tried his best to shore up the runrate in company of Rashid Khan (22 off 19 balls) but he too departed in search of quick runs. Rashid’s knock came with the help of two fours and one six before being run out.
Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for DC with figures of three for 37, while Anrich Nortje (2 for 12) and Axar (2 for 21) picked up two wickets apiece.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 134/9 in 20 overs (A Samad 28, K Rabada 3/37, A Nortje 2/12, A Patel 2/21) lost to Delhi Capitals 139/2 in 17.5 overs (S Iyer 47*, S Dhawan 42)