SRH bowlers were better than Daredevils’: Iyer
MUMBAI: Delhi Daredevils batsman Shreyas Iyer on Wednesday hailed the opposition bowling discipline after his side lost by 15 runs to Sunrisers Hyderabad and added that his bowlers should have been able to restrict them within 180 runs.
Opting to bat first, Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on the brilliance of Kane Williamson (89) and Shikhar Dhawan (70) as the openers helped their side post 191; the highest against Delhi Daredevils this season.
However, thanks to the Sanju Samson, Sam Billings and Karun Nair, Delhi Daredevils got off to a flying start, reaching 56 for the loss of one wicket at the end of the powerplay overs.
Defending the fight put up by DD, Shreyas Iyer said: “I think nothing went wrong (for us). They bowled really well and also we got a good start. To compare with their score, our start was really good.
“But in between we lost a few wickets. If we would have built on from there onwards maybe the scenario would have been different. And also, this was a wicket (where) we could have restricted them for 180.”
However, unlike Sunrisers Hyderabad who saw Dhawan and Williamson up 180 for the second wicket, Delhi Daredevils kept losing wickets at regular intervals with a double whammy in the 10th over as Karun Nair and Rishabh Pant headed back with the score at 86 for the loss of three wickets. That brought Shreyas Iyer out in the middle and the Mumbai youngster scored a terrific 31-ball 50 to reignite hopes for his side but failed to steer them past the line. Samson fell in the first ball of the 13th over and with 87 required off 41 balls, Angelo Matthews ate up 23 deliveries to score his 31 runs as Iyer continued his blitz at the other end.
There were a number of fans and pundits who were quite not convinced to find someone like Chris Morris being held back for too late in the innings.
The South African allrounder, who took all the four wickets for his side on the night, stepped in the middle only for the last ball that Iyer dispatched for a single to bring up his half-century. “It’s not my decision. I was batting out there. It’s the team management’s decision so… I wouldn’t like to say anything regarding this,” Iyer said, on being asked if he felt the move was a justified one. “It depends on the bowler actually. When Yuvraj came in, a left hander would be an ideal player to send in. So accordingly I think the management took a decision to send Rishabh Pant in.”
This was Delhi Daredevils’ second loss of the season while Sunrisers Hyderabad picked up their fourth win to go second on the table behind Kolkata Knight Riders.