Eagle-claws pierce Devils
A target of 81 should not have troubled batsmen, even on a dicey track like the one at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. But the Sunrisers Hyderabad — whose bowlers had brutalised the Delhi Daredevils earlier — endured some anxious moments before winning by six wickets.
After losing the top three — Shikhar Dhawan (22), Parthiv Patel (14) and Ashish Reddy (5) — with only 43 on the board, captain Kumar Sangakkara, with a 14-ball 8, stabilised the innings before Darren Sammy (18 not out) and G.H. Vihari (11 not out) took them over the line for their fifth consecutive home victory.
Earlier, yet another concerted, clinical bowling show by the Sunrisers left the visitors feeling hot under the collar. The Eagles’ lethal bowling, and clueless batting by Delhi, ensured the Daredevils — who won the toss and batted first — were bowled out for a measly 80 off 19.1 overs.
All-rounders Sammy, Thisara Perera of Sri Lanka and pacer Dale Steyn led the pack with two wickets apiece and were complemented by Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma and Karan Sharma, who scalped one each.
The visitors seemed at sea on the Hyderabad track. Bearing testimony to this was the run-rate — just over four-an-over, woefully short by Twenty20 standards.
Openers Mahela Jayawardene and Virender Sehwag spent a few nervous moments at the crease initially, when they were treated to some fast, short stuff from Steyn and Ishant. Soon, Jayawardene was out, trapped LBW for 11 by Ishant. Sehwag (8), after much flailing and missing, tried to dab Sammy’s first delivery of the match to gully, but was cramped for room and the ball clipped the off-stump, much to the joy of the 28,000-strong home crowd.
Chand, who had come in at No.3, was beginning to get his eye in when he was undone by a Steyn delivery that pegged the off-stump back.
That brought the danger man David Warner in, but he didn’t last long. Facing Mishra, Warner danced down the wicket only to be beaten by a googly. Gloveman Parthiv Patel made no mistake in whipping the bails off.
The most crowd-pleasing dismissal of the evening was effected by journeyman Sharma, who got rid of Kedar Jadhav (3 off 4). The right-hander tried to dab a regulation delivery to the leg-side but only managed a leading edge towards the bowler. Sharma dived to his right gleefully to take the catch.
The remaining batsmen were no more adept at scoring runs — only 10 runs were added for the remaining four wickets, capping a miserable evening for the Daredevils.