Sunrisers Hyderabad registered their 3rd loss on a trot after Delhi Capitals came up with an inspiring performance to beat them by 39 runs. Courtesy the victory, Delhi Capitals are now just behind Chennai Super Kings in the points table with 5 victories from 8 matches. It was a thoroughly professional bowling performance from the Delhi bowlers as they managed to restrict the Hyderabad batters after their impressive opening stand.
After batting first it was Delhi Capitals who posted a competitive 155 on the board in their allotted 20 overs after batting first. Comeback man from both sides did the job for their teams. For Hyderabad, it was Khaleel Ahmed who made a splendid return to the Hyderabad playing XI with a three-wicket haul.
The left arm pacer bagged the prized wickets of Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan to have DC on 20/2. However, Colin Munro who was playing in his first game looked in great touch and started off with some amazing shots. He scored 40 of 24 deliveries which set the momentum for DC. However, the SRH bowlers clawed their way back into the match with some decent bowling as they restricted DC to a score of 155.
Chasing a relatively moderate target of 156 runs, Sunrisers Hyderabad began pretty decently with openers Jonny Bairstow and David Warner looking in good touch. It was Bairstow in particular who played very well and played some delightful shots in the process. His stand of 72 runs with David Warner should have been enough for Hyderabad.
After the fall of Bairstow’s wicket, it was a downward slope for Hyderabad as they kept losing wickets on a consistent basis. It was Keemo Paul who started off the collapse with the wicket of Bairstow. His 3 wickets tally also includes the wicket of SRH skipper Kane Williamson and Ricky Bhui.
Eventually, it was Kagiso Rabada who stormed back in his final spell to finish the deal for Delhi Capitals. He was at his fearsome best as he bagged 4 wickets in his spell and looked at his lethal best. After his 4 wicket haul, he also took over the Purple cap from Imran Tahir. He has currently 17 wickets in the tournament so far, 4 ahead of his countryman Imran Tahir.
Now here is what losing skipper Kane Williamson said at the post-match presentation
I thought the first half with the ball was a really good effort. It was a bare surface, probably a 160 surface. We tried in the second half but never got going with partnerships. Unfortunate performance but credit to Delhi the way they played. No, never any complacency in a tournament like this. Any team on the table can beat anybody.
For us, it’s about executing our plans and play our style of cricket. It’s one of those things. The two at the top of the order have been prolific. Delhi adapted well on this surface and used their changes of pace.