IPL 2018: Match 36, SRH vs DD, Review- Sunrisers drift into the playoffs, DD on the brink of elimination

The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) played their first game after a week off. Moreover, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who sat out due to a sore back, made a comeback after a couple of weeks. Basil Thampi, despite bowling well in his absence, unfortunately, had to make way for Bhuvi. Nevertheless, the inclusion of the experienced pacer could only have boosted their bowling lineup.

Their opponents were the Delhi Daredevils (DD), who rose from the slump following Shreyas Iyer’s takeover of the charge as the skipper, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The visitors stormed to victory against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), however, it was paramount for them to turn over SRH which they couldn’t and were thumped by the Orange Army by 7 wickets

Shaw lifts Delhi to respectability    

The pitch seemed to be on the slower side and hence, Iyer won the toss and elected to field first. The decision made even more sense bearing in mind the strength of the Sunrisers’ bowling repertoire. Prithvi Shaw and Glenn Maxwell have had contrasting fortunes and both began proceedings for Delhi. Maxwell’s campaign went from bad to worse as he was dismissed run-out at the non-striker’s end.

The skipper joined Shaw for the second wicket and the duo carved a partnership of 86 runs off 51 balls, which set the platform for a massive score on board. Shaw was flamboyant in his stroke-play and didn’t mind taking the aerial route. The right-handed batsman notched his second half-century of this IPL in a mere 25 balls. On the contrary, Shreyas Iyer didn’t blaze away and bided his time at the crease.

Shaw was removed by Rashid Khan for 65 runs following which the run-rate slowed down to a large extent. Thereafter, the Daredevils could only manage 68 runs off 59 balls and fell way short of where they looked like heading when Shaw was going great guns. Rishabh Pant couldn’t replicate his form from the previous game and was trapped in front by Rashid after he scored 18 off 19 balls.

Iyer struggled hard and mustered 44 runs off 36 balls, but couldn’t carry on and play the 20 overs. Vijay Shankar played a couple of brief cameos lower down the order and he did the same with another quick-fire knock of 23 runs off 13 balls, which helped DD reach a competitive score of 163 for the loss of 8 wickets. Rashid was arguably the pick of the bowlers.

Yusuf blitz gets Sunrisers home

Since 2015, SRH never chased a target greater than 149 runs, which was a motivational tonic for the Daredevils. Alex Hales and Shikhar Dhawan were in with a task on their hands, but they started steadily and meandered along to 34 runs in 5 overs without any wicket. In the 6th over, the duo laid into Avesh Khan for 27 which boosted the run-rate from 6.80 to 10.16 at the end of the powerplay.

Maxwell, who grassed Hales on the leg-side in the second over, would have been ruing the dropped catch by then. With 103 runs off 84 balls, the match was well and truly in favour of Iyer’s boys. However, Amit Mishra had other ideas and pinned both of them in consecutive overs. Dhawan and Hales scored 45 and 33 runs respectively.

After they perished, SRH had two new batsmen in Kane Williamson and Manish Pandey. Yet again, the onus was on the skipper to shepherd them home. On the other hand, Pandey had the chance to get his form back and he started handsomely with a couple of boundaries off Daniel Christian. In the last, the Orange Army required 49 runs, which seemed tricky on a slow wicket.

Avesh was entrusted with another over, which backfired and he conceded 10 runs courtesy of a cheeky shot by Williamson over third-man. Yusuf Pathan came in after Pandey’s dismissal and smacked a couple off Trent Boult, which got the required runs to 14 in the last over. Pathan smacked a couple of boundaries in the 20th over and won SRH the game. The defeat has almost pulled the curtains down on DD’s campaign.

Brief Scores

Delhi Daredevils: 163/5 in 20 overs; Prithvi Shaw 65, Shreyas Iyer 44; Rashid Khan 2/23, Siddarth Kaul 1/37

Sunrisers Hyderabad 164/3 in 19.5 overs; Alex Hales 45, Shikhar Dhawan 33; Amit Mishra 2/19, Liam Plunkett 1/27

Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Delhi Daredevils by 7 wickets

Player of the Match: Rashid Khan