Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk:Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated Delhi Daredevils (DD) by seven wickets to go to the top of the table at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Saturday.
Chasing 164 to win, Sunrisers were off to a blazing start as England’s Alex Hales (45 off 31 balls) clobbered three fours and sixes each, courtesy a drop by Glenn Maxwell earlier in the innings.
Hales smashed 27 runs off Daredevils pacer Avesh Khan, as the latter kept on bowling short to the English batsman.
After Hales departed for a well-made 45 by spinner Amit Mishra, DD needed wickets to stall the momentum of SRH to have any chance of winning.
Despite the innings slowing down, Sunrisers’ kept the scoreboard ticking as batsmen Shikhar Dhawan (33) and skipper Kane Williamson (32) led the way, coupled with poor fielding and dropped catches.
In the end, Yusuf Pathan (unbeaten 27) smashed two fours and sixes each, as the 2016 champions jumped back to the numero uno spot at the table, further enhancing their chances to earn a spot to the playoffs.
For DD, Mishra was the pick of the bowlers as he took 2 for 19, while pacer Liam Plunkett took 1 for 27.
Earlier, Daredevils’ did not get the perfect start, as an out-of-form Glenn Maxwell (2) was brilliantly run out by pacer Sandeep Sharma.
It was then young sensation Prithvi Shaw (65 off 36 balls) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (44) took charge. The former looked absolutely dangerous as he punished short balls for boundaries.
He smashed three boundaries and a maximum off pacer Siddharth Kaul, as the latter’s over went for 20 runs.
He looked in great touch and along with Iyer’s support, he clobbered his way to a well-crafted half-century for the second time in just 25 balls. DD were 95 for 1 after 10 overs.
Just as the Daredevils were looking set for an over-180 score, Shaw top-edged a delivery off Rashid Khan and thereby, stalled the momentum of their innings.
The last ten overs yielded just 68 runs as the pitch slowed down and the batsmen struggling to make runs and not finding the boundary ropes.
Iyer was soon dismissed and Rishabh Pant (18) failed to connect with the bat every time. He was ultimately adjudged leg before wicket by Khan after he failed to read his slower delivery.
Vijay Shankar (unbeaten 23) then slammed 17 runs, including a four and a six to take DD to a par score of 163 in their 20 overs.
Daredevils’ banked on their bowlers to do the job and earn them an important win. But that was not to be. Sunrisers now have seven wins and two losses to have 14 points after nine matches.
On the other hand, this was Daredevils’ seventh loss after ten matches. With just three wins in their kitty (six points), they are almost out of contention for the playoffs.
In the first game earlier, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) climbed to the top of the points table with a comfortable six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on Saturday.
Having elected to field on winning the toss, CSK restricted the visitors to 127 for 9 in their 20 overs. Parthiv Patel was the top scorer for his team, as he made 53 off 41 balls, which included five fours and two sixes.
In reply, while Shane Watson (11) departed early, opener Ambati Rayudu laid the foundation of a successful foundation with a brilliant 32 off 25 balls.
CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (unbeaten 31) then hit spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for three consecutive sixes in the 18th over of the match to lead his team to a thumping victory.
Spinners Ravindra Jadeja (3 for 18) and Harbhajan Singh (2 for 22) shared five wickets between them as they spun a web around the visitors.
On Sunday, Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Mumbai at 4 pm, while Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will lock horns with Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Indore at 8 pm. (ANI)
