Disciplined SRH outsmart DC to register first points

Tags: Indian T20 League 2020, Delhi XI vs Hyderabad XI, 11th Match at Abu Dhabi, Sep 29, 2020, Hyderabad XI, Delhi XI

Published on: Sep 29, 2020

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

The Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to defend a par total of 162 with some intelligent and disciplined bowling as they won their first match of the season by beating the Delhi Capitals by 15 runs.

Shreyas won the toss and put the opposition to bat. The dynamic duo of Warner and Bairstow came to open the innings for Hyderabad, but couldn’t give their typical quick start as the bowling from DC bowlers was tight. The pitch seemed to be two-paced and run scoring wasn’t easy as only 38 runs came off the powerplay. The fact that they didn’t lose a wicket early on meant they could open their wings as time went on, as they helped themselves with a few boundaries off Ishant and Mishra. Warner however, got out trying to reverse sweep Mishra. Pandey came and went as he holed out to Mishra again at deep mid wicket.

Williamson, playing his first game this season, showed his class right from the start. He also eased pressure off Bairsow who was struggling with the heat and slowness of the pitch. At the 15 over stage, SRH were at 117-2, and a score between 170-180 was on the cards. They started well too as Williamson hit consecutive boundaries off Nortje and Stoinis. Rabada however, came back to hit Hyderabad hard with his tricks as Bairstow lost his wicket to a slower one. Nortje proved to be expensive as debutant Abdul Samad smashed him for a four and a six in the penultimate over. Rabada again bowled a fine last over as only 4 came off the last over and the target set for DC was 163.

Chasing a par total, DC lost Prithvi Shaw in the first over itself as he hung his bat at a delivery well outside off, giving Bhuvaneshwar a rare powerplay wicket. Skipper Iyer came to bat and alongside Dhawan, the experienced duo started to forge a partnership. They did well with a few boundaries here and there to carry Delhi to 42-1 at the 7 over mark.

Things changed drastically after that as Rashid came and broke the back of DC’s middle order. Shreyas tried to show his prowess against spin by going after Rashid but lost his important wicket in the process. Pant and Dhawan didn’t look at ease against the Afghan leggie as he went on to scalp Dhawan as well. With the required rate going above 11, Pant and Hetmyer hit a couple of sixes each to give their team some respite. The running between the wickets wasn’t top notch as dot balls kept on adding required rate pressure. Bhuvi came back to pick up Hetmyer as the match was now tilting back in SRH’s favour.

Rashid, who had given away just 10 runs off his 3 overs and also picked up 2 wickets, came to ball the match changing 17th over as he picked up the crucial wicket of Pant. Natarajan bowled toe crushing yorkers at will to dismiss Stoinis off his last ball as DC’s hopes of the chase effectively ended. In the end, Rabada hit a couple of boundaries but it was too little too late as they fell short of the target by 15 runs.

-- Jatin Shad

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