IPL 10, Match 21, SRH vs DD Review: Williamson help Sunrisers keep home record intact

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) yet again won a home fixture beating Delhi Daredevils by 15 runs. Set a target of 192, Delhi Daredevils never looked liked achieving it in the second half of the chase. Kane Williamson was the standout performer as he scored a classy 89 in his first game of this year’s IPL.

Fans around the world were treated to some sublime stroke-play from the New Zealander. He walked in to bat at No. 3 post-Warner’s dismissal, to a short delivery which was skied by the skipper to the safe hands of Amit Mishra. He immediately got into the groove hitting Mathews for back to back sixes in the 7^th over. The 26-year old then went from strength to strength to demolish the Delhi Daredevils bowlers. He was eventually out for 89 not before he proved his worth even in the T20 format.

When Williamson was carving out one of the better innings of the season so far, Dhawan was struggling to up the tempo. He raised his half-century in 40 balls but did not look in entire control before he got a few off the last 10 balls he faced. While his eventual 50-ball 70 might look impressive on the scorecard, Dhawan knows that he couldn’t time the ball as well as he would have liked. His innings, nevertheless, helped Hyderabad propel to 191/4 in 20 overs. Chris Morris took all four wickets finishing with 4/26. Rest all, especially Mathews and Mishra who went for 74 runs collectively in 6 overs, didn’t have much to write home about.

After losing Sam Billings early, – he smashed a leg-stump half-volley straight into the hands of Hooda at mid-wicket – Sanju Samson and Karun Nair sewed up a decent partnership. Both youngsters were going great guns till the latter was smartly run out by substitute fielder Vijay Shankar’s flat throw from long on. This moment of brilliance broke a rear-guard partnership of 71 which came in just 45 balls and put Delhi in line with Sunrisers total.

All eyes were on Rishabh Pant when he walked out to bat at No. 4. To everyone’s disappointment, Pant smashed the first ball he faced into the hands of David Warner at long-off. Warner had got Yuvraj on for the first time this year and he accounted for the price scalp of a dangerous Pant to reduce Delhi to 86/3 at the half-way mark.

Samson also followed suit when he skied a Mohammed Siraj-slower ball to the hands of cover. At 105/4, Delhi Daredevils looked down and out. Mathews joined force with Shreyas Iyer. Both were involved in a 70-run partnership as the duo quietly went about their business.

When Shreyas Iyer hit Rashid Khan for 2 sixes in his final over, Delhi Daredevils quietly reminded Sunrisers that they still believe that they can win. With 57 needed from the last four, Warner turned to Bhuvneshwar Kumar – by far the best bowler on display in IPL 2017. Kumar along with Siddharth Kaul delivered outstanding yorkers and gave away 41 runs in the final 4 to win it for Sunrisers by 15 runs. Mathews tried hard but fell in the last over for a good 23-ball 31. Iyer remained unbeaten on 50 which came off 31 balls and included 5 boundaries and 2 sixes. Siraj went for runs but picked 2 wickets to improve his figures to 2/39. Bhuvneshwar didn’t get any wickets but bowled tightly to return with 0/29.

Daredevils have succumbed to another defeat, their third in five games. They need to get back to winning ways as falling behind too much won’t help them qualifying for the Playoffs.

Sunrisers Hyderabad is currently second on the points table after they recorded their fourth win in six games. They now travel to Pune to take on the Pune Supergiant in a day game on Saturday.

Brief Scores:

Sunrisers Hyderabad 191/4 in 20 overs (Kane Williamson 89, Shikhar Dhawan 70, Chris Morris 4/26)

Delhi Daredevils 176/5 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 50*, Sanju Samson 42, Mohammed Siraj 2/39)

Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 15 runs

Check out – Full scorecard here

Check out – Points table here