IPL 2020 Qualifier 2, DC vs SRH: Shikhar Dhawan's 50-Ball 78 Propels Delhi Capitals To 189/3 Against Sunrisers Hyderabad At Abu Dhabi

IPL 2020 Qualifier 2, DC vs SRH match in UAE: After winning the toss, Delhi Capitals surprised everyone by going against the trend as they decided to bat first on a pitch where team that have decided to chase have been more successful. Another surprise from DC was all-rounder Marcus Stoinis coming out with Shikhar Dhawan to open the innings.

Photo: @DelhiCapitals (Twitter)

The brand new opening combination of Marcus Stoinis (27-ball 38) and Shikhar Dhawan (50-ball 78) came out all guns blazing to stitch a solid 86-run partnership that helped Delhi Capitals get off to a flying start and post 189/3 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday at the Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Stonis was dropped on 3 and he made DC pay for it. Star leggie Rashid Khan got rid of him but Dhawan continued to carry on and converted his brisk start to a fifty. The DC star opener also completed 600 runs in IPL 2020 after KXIP skipper KL Rahul.

After winning the toss, Delhi Capitals surprised everyone by going against the trend as they decided to bat first on a pitch where team that have decided to chase have been more successful. Another surprise from DC was all-rounder Marcus Stoinis coming out with Shikhar Dhawan to open the innings. For Hyderabad, Sandeep Sharma started the proceedings with the new ball.

Sharma bowled a superb first over and gave away just 3 runs from it. Holder dropped Stoinis in the third over at short mid-on off Sandeep Sharma's over, and the Aussie punished the speedster with back-to-back boundaries. Both openers started swinging the bat hard at almost every delivery and Hyderabad needed a wicket in the powerplay.

The experiment by Delhi Capitals to send down Marcus Stoinis as an opener paid off as he along with Dhawan provided his team a fiery start. At the end of six over (powerplay), DC were 65 for loss of no wicket. Also, this was first fifty-plus opening stand for Delhi capitals in their last 10 games.

SRH''s key bowler Rashid Khan was introduced into the attack in the 7th over but he failed to get a wicket and also conceded four overthrows. DC were on top and in complete control of the game. However, in his second over he produced a beauty to get the breakthrough for Hyderabad when it needed the most. Well-set Stoinis was castled by a jaffa for 38.

Shikhar Dhawan, meanwhile, scored his 41st IPL fifty in style, with a huge maximum.

.@SDhawan25 with his 6th IPL half-century in #Dream11IPL 2020. Will he make it big today?#Qualifier2 pic.twitter.com/OJsoS8Nl8i

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 8, 2020

After Stoinis' wicket, the run-rate had dipped a bit but Dhawan and his skipper Shreyas Iyer had kept the scoreboard ticking. Delhi looked set for a 200 run target at this stage. Shreyas Iyer failed to up his scoring rate, and fell for a 20-ball 21 in the 14th over.

After Shreyas Iyer's exit, Shimron Hetmyer joined Dhawan as DC aimed for a big finish in the death overs. The duo duo notched a quick 27-ball 51 partnership to held Delhi reach 189/3 in their allotted 20 overs.

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Dubey, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner(c), Shreevats Goswami(w), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan