'Another Vijay Shankar today' - Twitter reacts as Abhishek Sharma scores quick half-century to help SRH recover against DC after shaky start

SRH skipper Aiden Markram won the toss and opted to bat first in Delhi.

Published - 29 Apr 2023, 21:06 IST | Updated - 29 Apr 2023, 20:36 IST

8 Min Read

Delhi Capitals (DC) hosted Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the second match of Saturday's (April 29) double-header of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. After winning the toss, SRH skipper Aiden Markram decided to bat first. Despite losing two wickets in the powerplay, the 2016 IPL champions were provided with an effective innings by opener Abhishek Sharma.

SRH got off to a terrible start as they lost their opener Mayank Agarwal for just five runs in the third over with veteran Ishant Sharma picking the wicket. Soon, Rahul Tripathi joined Abhishek in the middle and attempted to stitch a much-needed partnership but was dismissed by Mitchell Marsh in the fifth over. However, despite two early setbacks, Abhishek kept his momentum going as he hit Ishant Sharma for four boundaries in the latter's third over. His brilliance in the powerplay continued as he managed to nullify the early downsides by propelling SRH to a competitive powerplay score of 62/2.

In the seventh over, Abhishek smashed a six to bring up his fifty in just 25 balls. While Mitchell Marsh dismissed skipper Markram and England all-rounder Harry Brook, the southpaw continued his power-hitting to keep the scoreboard moving. He hit boundaries with ease to raise SRH's innings.

However, all-rounder Axar Patel struck in the 12th over and provided DC with a major breakthrough, dismissing Abhishek Sharma. He scored a stunning 67 runs from 36 deliveries, including 12 boundaries and one maximum.

Both SRH and DC have had a terrible start so far in the ongoing IPL season. Both teams are standing ninth and tenth respectively in the IPL 2023 points table, having won only two matches so far.

In the previous fixture, DC defeated SRH by seven runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on April 24. Notably, it was David Warner-led side's second victory in the IPL 2023.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Abhishek Sharma's knock:

Harsh Vardhan Chaurasia@mrhvcji

Abhishek Sharma as an opener looks very different. Don't know why SRH were playing him in middle order and Harry Brook as an opener. Maybe just because of his price (16 Crore) #SRHvsDC