Sunrisers Hyderabad registered a comprehensive 7-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils to climb to the top of the points table, taking their tally to 14 points.


Chasing a sophisticated 164, Opener Alex Hales and Shikhar Dhawan started the proceeding in style for the hosts, stitching 76 runs for the first wicket.


However, Amit Mishra brought Delhi back in the game with back to back dismissals of the set openers.




 


Indian batsman Manish Pandey once again disappointed as the returned back to the pavilion with 21 off 17, mounting more pressure on the hosts.


But skipper Kane Williamson responded to the grim situation in the best possible manner and took them inch closer to victory, joining hands with power-hitter Yusuf Pathan and then finishing off the tie with one ball to spare.


Earlier, A disciplined bowling effort from Delhi help them take the contest to the final over.


Delhi Daredevils could not cash in on the brilliant platform laid by young Prithvi Shaw as Sunrisers Hyderabad restricted them to 163 for 5 in an IPL encounter in Hyderabad.


Shaw smashed 65 off 36 balls but after scoring 95 in the first 10 overs, DD managed only 67 in the back 10 with the pitch getting slower and the odd delivery holding up.


Leg-spinner Rashid Khan (2/23 in 4 overs) was the most impressive bowler for Sunrisers as he put the brakes in the second half of the Delhi innings.


Shaw once again provided a blazing start, reaching to his second IPL half-century in only 25 balls. His innings had six boundaries and three huge sixes.


He teed off with six over long on off Sandeep Sharma and then lofted Shakib Al Hasan inside out for his second maximum.


The most fruitful over was the final one in the Powerplay where Shaw literally got stuck into Siddarth Kaul, hitting him for a six and three boundaries.


The 18-year-old is one of the cleanest hitters among the 'Gen-Next' players. With a slight backfoot trigger towards leg-stump, the Mumbaikar makes room and plays his shots all around the wicket. While there is a preference for straight hits, he is equally adept in hitting the cut shots and is not afraid to pull the short balls when the need arises.


Till Shaw was taking on the bowlers, his skipper Shreyas Iyer (44 off 36 balls) played the second fiddle to perfection during their 86-run stand.


Shaw was finally out when he tried to hit Rashid Khan against the turn, gifting a simple catch to Kaul at short third man.


Skipper Iyer was looking good for another half-century before his attempted flick shot off Siddarth Kaul's bowling was snapped by Shikhar Dhawan at deep mid-wicket.


Delhi's top run-getter in the season, Rishabh Pant (18 off 19 balls) was off-colour as Rashid trapped him leg-before.


Naman Ojha, getting his first look-in in the tournament, was run-out. From 95 for 1, Delhi slumped to 134 for 5 in the space of 6.4 overs.


It was Vijay Shankar (23 off 13 balls), who gave Bhuvneshwar Kumar, coming back from injury, the charge to take Delhi past 160-run mark.


Toss and team news 


Delhi Daredevils have won the toss and opted to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad.


Sunrisers Hyderabad playing XI: Alex Hales, Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson (capt), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma


One change for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the playing XI. Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns in place of Basil Thampi.


Delhi Daredevils playing XI: Prithvi Shaw, Naman Ojha, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Rishabh Pant (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Vijay Shankar, Daniel Christian, Liam Plunkett, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult


Daredevils have made two changes in their squad. Visitors have brought in Dan Christian and Naman Ojha in place of Colin Munro and Shahbaz Nadeem.


Preview 


Hyderabad:The young Delhi Daredevils batsmen, striving hard to keep the team afloat, face a stern test when they face formidable bowling attack of hosts Sunrsiers Hyderabad, in an IPL match here.


Just like previous editions, the Daredevils once again had a stop-start campaign in the ongoing IPL and are standing on the verge of yet another early elimination.


The Delhi outfit is currently placed sixth with just three wins out of nine games and with five more matches remaining this season, the Daredevils cannot afford to slip any further if they wish to make it to the four-team play-offs.


But having suffered a string of losses under Gautam Gambhir who stepped down from captaincy on his own, the Delhi side looked in a much better shape under young Shreyas Iyer's leadership.


The Daredevils have a reason to smile after it got back to winning ways, beating fellow laggards Rajasthan Royals in their last game at home ground on Wednesday.


Young Prithvi Shaw, skipper Iyer himself and Rishabh Pant are mainly spearheading the batting unit but the Delhi outfit would also want its foreign recruits Colin Munro and Glenn Maxwell to fire and if that happens they would definitely give any bowling side reasons to worry.


But unfortunately that has not been the case this season and with just five matches left, it's high time for Munro and Maxwell to come good to propel Delhi's chances.


 Among the bowlers, Trent Boult has been among wickets for Daredevils, claiming 13 scalps so far. He has been been impressive in death overs too. The likes of young Avesh Khan, Liam Plunkett and spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, though, need to do more.


SRH, on the other hand, are sitting pretty at the top with 12 points from eight games.


The Sunrisers' journey has been a fairytale one so far this season with their bowling unit turning out to be a revelation by defending low scores.    


The Hyderabad side boasts of probably the best bowling attack in the ongoing IPL, comprising Siddharth Kaul, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi besides all-rounders Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammed Nabi and Yusuf Pathan.


The bowling attack earned kudos when they successfully prevented rivals from chasing down even low totals in recent matches. 


In their last game here, SRH bundled out formidable Kings XI Punjab for just 119 in 19.2 overs while defending a target of 132.


In another instance, on April 29, while defending a modest target of 152 the Hyderabad bowlers halted Rajasthan Royals' chase at 140 in 20 overs.


The most heartening thing about SRH's bowling show is that the produced the brilliant performances despite missing the services of its star bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the last few matches owing to a back injury.


But captain Kane Williamson expects Bhuvneshwar to be fir for Saturday's game.


Though the team lost its regular captain David Warner in the wake of the infamous ball tampering row, its new skipper Williamson has stepped up and consistently delivered the goods for the side.


While Williamson emerged as the batting mainstay, SRH would hope its other batsmen, including Manish Pandey, Wriddhiman Saha, Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan, also deliver in the remaining games.          


SRH head coach Tom Moody said having done the tough work, the team is now focussed to finish on a good note.


"Business end of the tournament is where we want to be playing our best cricket. We feel we can still improve in all three departments," Moody said here yesterday.


Teams (from):


Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C ), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddharth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami, Ricky Bhui, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sachin Baby, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Tanmay Agarwal, Alex Hales, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi and Chris Jordan.


Delhi Daredevils: Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant, Glenn Maxwell, Gautam Gambhir, Jason Roy, Colin Munro, Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Daniel Christian, Jayant Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Trent Boult, Manjot Kalra, Abhishek Sharma, Sandeep Lamichhane, Naman Ojha, Sayan Ghosh, Liam Plunkett, Junior Dala.