Delhi Capitals registered their first-ever win in a playoff game in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL) as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by two wickets in a thriller of a clash at Visakhapatnam. They will now take on Chennai Super Kings on May 10 (Friday) to set up a date with Mumbai Indians on Sunday’s clash.
Turning Point of the Match
Delhi Capitals lost four wickets in quick succession as Sunrisers Hyderabad started to crawl back in the game after a blistering start. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi began to take the grip of the game when Rishabh Pant cut loose to change the course of the game. He struck five massive sixes in his knock of 49 off just 21 deliveries to set the stage for Keemo Paul to seal the victory.
DC vs SRH – Sunrisers Hyderabad innings
With a pitch being a little sluggish, Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer played the masterstroke by putting Hyderabad to bat first. It was crucial to score runs when the hard new ball made strokeplay much easier. Martin Guptill took on the bowlers. He hit a massive six off Ishant Shama and two more off Trent Boult. Although Wriddhiman Saha fell in the fourth over, Guptill kept going after the bowlers to take SRH to 54 in the powerplay, with the Kiwi batsman scoring 35 of those.
Guptill departed soon after the powerplay failing to Amit Mishra. Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson then combined well, but the boundaries hardly came by. They eventually combined for 34 in 42 balls, with Pandey falling to Keemo Paul. Although they didn’t score at a good pace, they set the platform for the batters to follow.
Vijay Shankar and Mohammad Nabi combined well to provide Sunrisers Hyderabad with an excellent finish. They stitched 45 runs striking five fours and three sixes to end on a high. They finished with 162 in their 20 overs, a total that looked above par on a tricky wicket.
DC vs SRH – Delhi Capitals innings
Chasing 162 runs set by the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Prithvi Shaw’s early blitz gave Delhi Capitals the impetus they needed. The young Shaw picked the gaps with ease timing the ball brilliantly while Shikhar Dhawan played the role of a second fiddle. Shaw took on Khaleel Ahmed in the third over to set the tone before shelling out 17 runs from Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s second over. Although Dhawan looked subdued but didn’t give away his wickets as Delhi posted 55 runs in the powerplays.
However, they failed to keep up the momentum in the next five overs and lost three top-order batsmen. Shikhar Dhawan was the first to go, stumped off Deepak Hooda, while Khaleel Ahmed accounted for Shaw and Shreyas Iyer in the same over to leave DC reeling. Sunrisers Hyderabad keep up the pressure as Rashid Khan chipped in with another two in the 15th over – Colin Munro and Axar Patel to leave Delhi Capitals needing 52 runs in the final five.
But with Rashid out of the attack, Rishabh Pant could take on the bowlers. He went after Basil Thampi, smashing the pacer for two fours and two sixes in the 18th over to put DC in control. Another massive six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar followed in the next over before he holed out. But by then, Delhi just needed five off seven balls. Keemo Paul struck a boundary of the penultimate delivery after Amit Mishra got out for obstructing the field to seal an emphatic victory.
