I ALWAYS TRY TO KEEP CALM, SAYS JASPRIT BUMRAH
New Delhi Delhi Daredevils’ youth power displayed its full vigour on Tuesday as it lifted the team from the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 points table with a six-wicket win over defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad here.
After Yuvraj Singh scored a vintage 41-ball 70 not out to take Sunrisers Hyderabad to 185/3 in 20 overs, four Daredevils batsmen contributed 30-plus scores to guide their team to the target as they reached 189/4 in 19.1 overs. New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson hammered 41 not out to seal victory.
The scores may not look significant on paper but on the field contributions from Sanju Samson, stand-in skipper Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer combined to lift the spirits of a team that was on a five-match losing streak.
At the end a 24-ball 41 not out, Anderson ensured the youngsters’ fight was not wasted as DD finally found solace at home.
Daredevils now are at the seventh spot with six points from nine matches, while SRH continue to remain in the third spot
Earlier, with SRH’s top batsmen, skipper David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson back in the pavilion, the onus was on Yuvraj to lead his team to safety. And he took full responsibility.
The stylish left-hander and Moises Henriques were involved in an unbeaten 93-run fourthwicket stand, which helped SRH recover from 92/3 to a 180-plus total. For Yuvraj, this was the second half-century in this IPL edition and came after a string of single digit scores. The innings not just stood out because of the raining boundaries in the later overs, but also the way Yuvraj anchored it till the finish.
He stayed quiet in the early overs and took quick singles with Henriques. That did not, however, mean the left-hander was choked by DD. He went for at least one boundary every over. He upped the ante only after 15 overs.
Yuvraj took a liking for DD pacers Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada. He indulged in some power-hitting to take SRH to a challenging total.
DD’s innings was collective effort. All top-five batsmen got starts and never cracked under pressure. Sanju Samson and Karun Nair gave the team a steady start, scoring 40 runs in the first four overs. After the former fell to a slower ball from Mohd Siraj, Nair continued the onslaught with Rishabh Pant.
Just when it looked that the struggling Nair might get his maiden half-century this IPL season, he was caught at long-off by Bhuvneshwar Kumar off pacer Siddharth Kaul.
We told ourselves, we are a young team, and we should play like a young team. Go out there, play without fear.