Delhi Capitals beats Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets to reclaim top spot
DC vs SRH, IPL 2021: DC’s seventh victory, with 13 deliveries to spare, resulted in SRH’s seventh loss. Back on top of the points table, DC is now a victory away from the playoffs.
Published : Sep 22, 2021 23:18 IST
After its fearsome attack kept Sunrisers Hyderabad on the defensive, the Delhi Capitals’ top-order cut out the flamboyance for a business-like eight-wicket triumph in Dubai.
DC’s seventh victory, with 13 deliveries to spare, resulted in SRH’s seventh loss. Back on top of the points table, DC is now a victory away from the playoffs. SRH stayed at the bottom of the table and moved closer to finishing among the also-rans.
After Kane Williamson opted to bat, wickets fell at regular intervals beginning with the third-ball duck for former skipper David Warner. Throughout, SRH struggled to stitch partnerships. The addition of 56 runs off six overs, thanks to Abdul Samad and Rashid Khan, brought some dignity to the innings.
As it happened|
Delhi’s chase started with the customary flourish with Prithvi Shaw finding a few boundaries before perishing. Thereafter, Shreyas Iyer took his time to settle down while Shikhar Dhawan (32-ball 43) continued with the form he displayed in the first half of the league.
Dhawan crossed 400 runs for the sixth IPL season in a row and looked good for another half-century before Rashid got him out. Pant replaced the left-hander, and Iyer’s continued presence ensured SRH could never get back into the match. Fittingly, Iyer finished the chase with a six.
Injury concern
The only worry for DC was the hamstring injury to Marcus Stoinis.
At the toss, Williamson’s decision to bat suited Rishabh Pant who wanted to chase a target - something DC had not done in Dubai.
Facing some disciplined bowling from Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan and Axar Patel, the duo of Williamson and Manish Pandey looked to rebuild the innings that was not to be.
Dropped twice in the space of four deliveries - by Pant off R. Ashwin and by Prithvi off Axar - Williamson holed out off the next ball, with Shimron Hetmyer accepting the offering wide of long-off.
When Rabada took an easy return catch to send back Pandey and make it 61 for four in 11 overs, SRH never looked like setting a challenging target.