Delhi Capitals (DC) held its nerve to edge out Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an exciting IPL encounter decided in the Super Over, at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
SRH could score only seven runs off spinner Axar Patel in the Super Over. In reply, DC captain Rishabh Pant reverse-swept Rashid Khan for a four in the third ball to ease the pressure. Shikhar Dhawan and Pant scrambled through for a leg-bye in the last ball to secure a DC win.
In regulation play, SRH needed 16 runs in the last over bowled by fast bowler Kagiso Rabada. Kane Williamson (66 n.o., 51b, 8x4) found the boundary with a clever scoop, before J. Suchith (15 n.o., 6b, 2x4, 1x6) smashed a six over deep mid-wicket. SRH required a manageable four from three balls at this stage. Rabada, under the pump, did well to find the right lengths to force a stalemate.
Chasing 160 on a slow pitch, SRH stayed in contention through good knocks from Williamson and Jonny Bairstow (38, 18b, 3x4, 4x6). Williamson shouldered the bulk of the responsibility, as the rest of the middle-order faltered. It took a double strike from Axar in the 17th over to halt SRH’s progress. Axar (two for 26), playing his first match after recovering from COVID-19, had a good outing.
After electing to bat, Delhi Capitals rode on an 81-run opening partnership between Prithvi Shaw (53, 39b, 7x4, 1x6) and Dhawan (28, 26b, 3x4) to put up a respectable total.
Rashid, brought into the attack only in the ninth over, gave the side the breakthrough. Rashid forced Dhawan to play all over a length ball that turned in and disturbed the stumps. Shaw was the more fluent of the two, hitting shots to all parts of the ground.
Shaw’s dismissal, which came through a needless run-out, shifted the momentum to SRH. DC found it tough to accelerate after Shaw was sent back. Pant managed one six in his 27-ball 37, but he was nowhere near his usual destructive self. Steve Smith (34 n.o., 25b) struggled to middle it, before one sweet maximum in the last over bowled by Khaleel Ahmed served as partial redemption.
SRH was not helped by shoddy fielding, with Kedhar Jadhav, Khaleel Ahmed and Siddharth Kaul guilty of dropping catches. Pacer Kaul picked two wickets, while left-arm spinner Suchith - playing his first match of the tournament - finished with a tidy economy rate of 5.25.
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