Delhi Capitals beats Sunrisers Hyderabad to enter its first IPL final
Shikhar Dhawan, Marcus Stoinis and Kagiso Rabada star as Delhi Capitals defeats Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2 to seal a maiden IPL final berth
ABU DHABI: Delhi Capitals entered its maiden IPL final after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 17 runs in Qualifier 2 here on Sunday. The Capitals will meet defending champion Mumbai Indians in Dubai on Tuesday.
The Capitals’ ace speedster Kagiso Rabada nailed three wickets in the 19th over to effectively seal the match’s fate in his team’s favour. Rabada finished with impressive figures of four for 29. Requiring to chase a steep total of 190, it was imperative that the Sunrisers get off to a good start but it lost its captain David Warner in the second over for just two runs after being castled by his nemesis Rabada.
There was a shift in the Sunrisers’ strategy as it promoted the young Priyam Garg to open the innings and it seemed to work well when the India U-19 captain thumped two sixes before getting out to Marcus
Stoinis off an innocuous half-volley for 17 (12b, 2x6) in the fifth over.
Just two balls later, Stoinis removed Manish Pandey caught by Anrich Nortje at mid-on for 21 (14b, 3x4). At that stage, things looked precarious for the Sunrisers with the score on 44 for three and with two new batsmen in Kane Williamson and Jason Holder at the crease. Holder struggled to get going before he was dismissed by Axar Patel for 11 off 15 balls, while Williamson continued to wage a lone battle clobbering four maximums and five fours in a breezy knock of 67 (45b). Youngster Abdul Samad played a nice cameo but once the experienced Williamson perished to Stoinis, caught by Rabada at deep cover, in the 17th over, it was curtains for the Sunrisers.
Earlier, in-form Shikhar Dhawan smashed 78 off 50 balls to lead Delhi to a challenging 189 for three.
It turned out to be a good decision to bat first as Dhawan and Marcus Stoinis (38) got the team off to a flying start with their 86-run stand.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer (21) could not do much but Shimron Hetmyer, who was brought in for Sunday’s match, chipped in with an unbeaten 42-run knock.
Dhawan, in his well-paced innings, hit six fours and two sixes. He added 52 runs for the third wicket with Hetmyer before being dismissed by seamer Sandeep Sharma (1/30).
Stoinis was asked to open the innings by the Delhi Capitals. After being dropped by Jason Holder off Sandeep at short mid-on, the Australian punished the SRH bowlers with a flurry of boundaries.
BRIEF SCORES: Delhi Capitals 189/3 in 20 overs (S Dhawan 78, S Hetmyer 42) bt Sunrisers Hyderabad 172/8 in 20 overs (K Williamson 67, K Rabada 4/29, M Stonis 3/26)