IPL 2018: Match 36, SRH vs DD- Who Said What

The game was a must-win for the Delhi Daredevils (DD), but outplaying the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium wasn’t going to be a stroll in the park by any means. Delhi had the game in their favour for a chunk of the 40 overs, but the Orange Army managed to edge the visitors by seven wickets. With the defeat, Shreyas Iyer’s men have almost been eliminated from the event.

Delhi stumbles to respectability

Iyer won the toss and elected to bat first which made sense for the reason that the Sunrisers have been phenomenal with the leather. Glenn Maxwell and Prithvi Shaw opened the batting, but the stand was broken early with the run-out of Maxwell at the non-striker’s end. Thereafter, Shaw and Iyer built a massive partnership of 86 runs, which constructed the launch-pad for a blistering finish.

The teenager notched the second fifty of this year’s IPL and looked good for a substantial score, however, Rashid Khan nipped him out and his dismissal allowed the Sunrisers to pull down the run-rate. In the last 59 balls, the visiting team stumbled to 68 runs. Shreyas Iyer and Vijay Shankar’s knock of 44 and 23 not out, helped DD get themselves to 163/5 in 20 overs.

Sunrisers hold nerves; Delhi also eliminated

Sunrisers had never chased down a target above 149 since 2015, which somewhat indicated their vulnerability as a chasing team. The runs didn’t flow off Alex Hales and Shikhar Dhawan’s willow from the onset. However, they pulled things back with a 27-run over from Avesh Khan, which tilted the game a wee bit in favour of them. Amit Mishra removed both and brought the game back into the balance.

Meanwhile, Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson had the responsibility upon themselves. Pandey promised for a brief phase but was pinned by Liam Plunkett. Williamson didn’t blaze away but ensured that the scoreboard kept ticking. He promised but was dismissed by Liam Plunkett. Yusuf Pathan played a whirlwind knock of 27 runs off 12 balls, which closed out the game.

Shreyas Iyer, the skipper of Delhi Daredevils, said

Very disappointing to be honest. At certain point we were really in the game, on top but the momentum changed completely. It was a really good total to get on the board, even though we got a good start, we didn’t capitalize later on, but 10 runs extra would have been nice. It was really hard surface and I knew it wasn’t going to turn, I was banking on my seamer Avesh Khan but he didn’t turn up that great.

It was the perfect decision (playing just one spinner) on this wicket with the ball not turning that much, Mishra bowled really well and got two crucial wickets for us. It was a good chase from them. Catches win matches and we have been practicing really hard on our fielding, but when the nerves are really high, it happens and is part of the game; can’t really complain.

We didn’t give up till the end. They had a good start and they have a good batting line-up, are on top of the table and they backed themselves to chase this down.

Kane Williamson, the skipper of Sunrisers Hyderabad, said

I don’t think there’s any secret. Adapt to the surfaces. We were on a different one again. Both teams used the new ball well. We came back really well. In terms of getting more runs, they looked like they would. It was nice to restrict them under a par score. The bowlers responded well.

We knew that the middle overs would be tough. Those PP overs, was extremely important. It was great that he was able to give a good start. He (Yusuf Pathan) hits the ball really well. We still have too many games left. Today was a good team performance, not perfect.

Player of the match, Rashid Khan, said

Feels really good to perform well. I had two bad matches, had to keep everything simple. That is the main strength – the quick arm action. I’m taking advantage of that. The main thing is to bowl at good length. Feeling like playing in Afghanistan. It’s amazing. It gives the motivation. Feels good to perform. I think their prayers help me, specially my parents.

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