IPL 2018: Match 42, DD vs SRH - Rating of the Match

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have qualified for the playoffs with a resounding win over Delhi Daredevils (DD) courtesy excellent batting from Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson. Both literally didn’t give any chance to the home side during their magical partnership and steered their side to a victory. But everyone witnessed something special today in the first innings when the kid named Rishabh Pant just blazed away to register the first century by an Indian this season. It was one of the best T20 innings but sadly ended up on the losing side.

Fantastic Pant (128* off 63)

Well, no one could’ve stopped Rishabh Pant today. Even the opposition skipper Kane Williamson had no option but to admire the sensational while fielding at mid-wicket region. Even the best bowlers in the business were left helpless as the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan and Siddarth Kaul were torn apart in their respective four-over spells.

Delhi had lost their way at the start by losing their openers as the mix-up between Pant and Shreyas Iyer led to the latter’s dismissal which made things worse for them. The onus was on the 20-year-old left-hander now and he responded rather vociferously. He concentrated on resurrecting the mess first and scored only 30 off 26 deliveries in order to launch an assault later. It was an absolute masterclass which began with a reverse-sweep off Rashid. The next in the firing line was Kaul who had the worst day of the tournament so far.

Though the real onslaught began against Bhuvi who was taken to the cleaners completely by the youngster in the 18th and 20th over. The bowler, unfortunately, missed his mark by an inch as Pant sent it into the stands only through his power. It was the exhibition of power-hitting. However, the best shot of the night was the standing scoop over short third man. The length ball outside off was just shown the direction with the bat standing in the crease itself which comfortably went for four.

He repeated the shot twice in the final over and then finished the innings with three back-to-back sixes. Bhuvi had a rare bad day at the office and has was literally smoked out of the park. The shot off the penultimate delivery of the innings was absolutely special as the short of the length ball was smacked hard over the long-on fence even as his one hand came off the bat. The one-handed swat cleared the ground comfortably. Pant also completed his century before that and was simply magnificent on the day which tilted the game towards Delhi.

Dhawan regains the form

How do you beat the Sunrisers? Well, the question still has no answers. It was the day when their bowlers failed to keep a lid on the run-scoring and conceded 187 runs. Many felt that the score would be too much for the under-performing batsmen of the visitors. But Shikhar Dhawan rose to the occasion today and put his hands up to regain his form at the right time for the Orange Army.

He started slowly and got his eyes in first and then started middling the ball in the sixth over when he scored 10 runs off the first couple of deliveries off Trent Boult. The off-cutter from the bowler landed outside off and he brought his biceps into play by dragging it onto the leg-side and smashed a huge hit over the cow corner. The fun continued for him as he churned out at least a boundary off every over by smartly manipulating the ball. However, Shahbaz Nadeem was his favourite bowler as the left-arm spinner was taken apart brutally.

The two maximums which he hit in the 13th over dented the confidence of the bowler completely. While he somehow got under the full ball to nail it over long-on, the next one was on the pads to which he nonchalantly swung his bat to dispatch it over mid-wicket to confirm that he has hit the purple patch again. His batting rubbed on his partner and skipper Kane Williamson as well as even he smashed the bowlers disdainfully to kick Delhi officially out of the tournament.

Here’s CricTracker’s Rating of the Match: