NEW DELHI: Against all odds, the Delhi Daredevils registered their first win in over two weeks when they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Yuvraj Singh led Sunrisers to 185/3 with a fine half-century but the Daredevils achieved the target with six wickets and five balls to spare. Corey Anderson remained unbeaten on 41 to help Daredevils keep their play-off contention alive.
Dhawan, Warner begin in blazing fashion
Like it’s been the story of the tournament so far, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner once again got Sunrisers Hyderabad off the blocks quickly, scoring 40 in four overs. Often playing second fiddle, for a change, it was Dhawan outscoring Warner. The first ball he faced from Kagiso Rabada, Dhawan flicked it towards the deep square leg boundary before taking it to Chris Morris in the fourth over. The South African was taken for a six and a couple of boundaries. Not that Warner was behind by much. After playing out a four run over from Jayant Yadav, Warner took Jayant for a switch hit for four and another couple off Rabada. One of the reasons behind Sunrisers’ success has been their opening pair and it was again evident why. Dhawan and Warner brought up their third 50-run stand of the season, the most half-centuries (12) by any opening pair in IPL history.
Just when the Daredevils seemed to be getting floored away, Mohammed Shami produced a piece of magic. A quick yorker cleaned up Warner; off-stump uprooted and soon after, Amit Mishra removed Dhawan with a wrong one.
Mishra, Shami pull things back
Shami and Mishra continued the good work once Warner and Dhawan departed in a gap of three overs. Shami, playing instead of an injured Zaheer Khan, looked in fine rhythm despite being in just his third match. He bounced out Kane Williamson for his second wicket of the night. A sharp bouncer, and as it kept climbing, Williamson went for the pull and hit it straight to Morris at fine-leg. DD had removed Dhawan and Williamson for just 26 runs that opened the little door for staging a comeback. Sunrisers were 66/1 at the Powerplay but scored just 60 in the next 10 overs.
Yuvraj fifty guides Sunrisers to 185
It was one of those nights when everything found the middle of Yuvraj’s bat. Yuvraj was hitting the ball so hard that it was ricocheting off the fielders’ hands. The Daredevils were on top, and all they needed to do was maintain that pressure. But one small error in the field and it all went downhill. Yuvraj was on 29 when Sanju Samson dropped the simplest of catches in the deep. From there on, there was no looking back for Yuvraj. A couple of fours off Morris brought up his second fifty of the tournament. He provided Sunrisers a tremendous finish, whacking Rabada for 19 runs in the final over – he went for 59 in his four. Moises Henriques played his part, scoring an 18-ball 25 as the two put on 93 runs, but it was mainly because of Yuvraj’s assault that Sunrisers collected 52 runs in the final three overs.
A start Daredevils long aspired for
Against all odds, the Daredevils were off to their best start in recent memory. On a surface that was labelled “two-paced”, Sanju Samson and Karun Nair batted wonderfully against the quality of Mohammed Siraj and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The first over from Bhuvneshwar was a quiet one, but 37 came off the next three with both batsmen playing some delightful shots. Samson began with a six off Siraj, launching him over long-off, and Nair followed it with a spanking cut for four. Samson looked in great touch, middling the ball well and a couple of fours off Purple Cap holder Bhuvneshwar, for two fours. Nair grew in confidence of his partner and cracked 10 off the final two balls of the fourth over from Siddarth Kaul. They had put on 40 in four overs before the opening stand was broken. A slower one from Siraj did the trick as Samson slapped the ball straight to Dhawan at cover-point.
DD would also take confidence from that fact that the real Nair finally showed up at the Feroz Shah Kotla. He was striking the ball well and looked in great touch. After those lusty blows initially, Nair hammered Henriques for 16 in the final over of the Powerplay. He was 39 off 20 before Kaul got his wicket.
The lack of experience and a string of poor scores behind them, not much was expected from the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer or Corey Anderson. But fortunately for the Daredevils, all three came good when it mattered. After the wicket of Nair, Pant and Iyer took control and put on 37 runs. The Sunrisers bowlers did not provide much room for error but were predictable none the less, and that is where the Daredevils batsmen made merry. Two more useful partnerships – between Iyer and Anderson and Anderson and Morris – ensured a sweet win for the Daredevils.
It all began in the 13th over where Iyer hammered Yuvraj for consecutive sixes. Anderson at the other end flexed his muscles to perfection as well. The Sunrisers were full to Anderson and the New Zealander clobbered them. A four and a six off Bhuvneshwar in the 18th over brought the equation down to 12 needed off the last over. First ball of the final over, with a four from Morris to the left of mid-off, victory was sealed for the Daredevils.
