After a brutal onslaught from SRH openers Wriddhiman Saha (45-ball 87) and David Warner (34-ball 66) ensured that their team finishes on a high, their bowlers bowled remarkably well to ensure Delhi Capitals got off to a horror start in the mammoth 220-run chase. An all-round performance from Hyderabad tonight helped them bounce back in the tournament by defeating heavyweights Delhi Capitals by 88 runs in a must-win match at Dubai international stadium on Tuesday. Back-to-back loses will definitely set the panic mode on in Delhi Capitals camp.
Defending a 200 plus total, for SRH, Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers. He finished with figures of 3-7 -- best in IPL 2020. A major setback for Delhi in the first innings was that its leading wicket-taker this season, Kagiso Rabada, went wicket-less tonight and proved expensive with the ball as he gave away 54 runs in his spell of four overs.
Chasing a mammoth 120-run target for the win, Delhi Capitals suffered a major blow in the very first over. A sensational swinging delivery from Sandeep Sharma got opener Shikhar Dhawan's leading edge to send him back to the pavilion for a golden duck. It was birthday boy Warner who bagged a simple catch and celebrated the wicket with a roar.
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Another DC opener Ajinkya Rahane was joined by Marcus Stoinis in the middle. Skipper Warner's move to introduce Nadeem early on into the attack in the second over worked as he did the job by removing Marcus Stoinis. Captain Warner bagged his catch number two of the day to help the bowler depart his fellow Aussie teammate for 6.
Shimron Hetmyer now joined Rahane and the duo scored some quick runs with the help of a few boundaries to ease off some pressure. DC was in desperate need of a partnership and Rahane and Hetmyer gave their team some hope by getting 20 runs in the last over of the powerplay, bowled by Jason Holder.
However, DC faced another major collapse by losing both Rahane and Hetmyer in gap of few deliveries. First, Hetmyer was cleaned up by 'king of leg-spin' Rashid Khan for 16 off the first delivery of his first over and in the second-last delivery of the same over he trapped Rahane (19-ball 26) in front of the stumps for LBW out to leave DC in tatters.
With Delhi batters falling like a house of cards in the pursuit of 220, captain Shreyas Iyer was the new man in at number six. At the end of first 10 overs, Delhi Capitals managed to reach 73/4. Things went from bad to worst and this time it was the DC skipper who never got going and had to bite the dust. Iyer looked to up the ante against Vijay Shankar but only managed to hole out to Kane Williamson at extra cover to throw away his wicket for just seven.
SRH continued to chip away with wickets and Rashid Khan was on a total roll as he picked his third wicket in form of Axar Patel (1). 100 came up for Delhi in the 16th over and the equation went down to them needing 124 runs required in last five overs (30 balls).
The next to depart was Kagiso Rabada (3), courtesy a brilliant yorker by T Natarajan and after him Rishabh Pant was caught behind for 36. With this, DC closed in on a crushing defeat and ultimately lost the match by 88 runs.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals won the toss and opted to bowl first. For SRH, David Warner got a new batting partner as it was Wriddhiman Saha who got promoted to open the innings for his team. Warner, who scored a fantastic ton on his last birthday, gave a brisk start to his team.
Warner celebrated his 34th birthday by treating himself to a 34-ball 66 run knock and with his opening partner Wriddhiman Saha (45-ball 87) -- who scored his first fifty of the season -- stitched a solid 107-run stand for the opening wicket to ensure their team gets a flying start and score a mammoth 219/2 against Delhi Capitals at the end of their allotted 20 overs.
Warner also created a unique record by becoming the only player, so far, to score a half-century inside the powerplay (first six overs). The Hyderabad skipper scored 54 runs inside the powerplay, bettering Prithvi Shaw's 42 for DC against RCB in Dubai.
Delhi Capitals Playing XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tushar Deshpande
Sunrisers Hyderabad Playing XI: David Warner(c), Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Jason Holder, Shahbaz Nadeem, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan