INDIA: The Delhi Capitals (DC) registered a much-needed win and drew level on points with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after successfully defending a 144-run target in their Indian Premier League encounter on Monday.
Delhi Capitals’ bowlers, especially their spin duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, were pivotal in the win as they stifled the Sunrisers’ chase and picked up crucial wickets.
Delhi Capitals Vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
The Sunrisers got off to a slow start, with Harry Brook struggling to get boundaries. The two openers managed to score only 36 runs in the Powerplay. Despite Mayank Agarwal’s quicker scoring rate, the spinners choked the SRH batting lineup.
With the run rate shooting up, the team could only manage a partnership worth 38 in as many balls. The lack of scoring shots proved a turning point in the game.
In the middle overs, Axar Patel (2/21 in 4) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/22 in 4) helped Delhi turn the tide and gave the pacers more to work with later in the innings.
As SRH progressed from 69/1 to 85/5, Axar took important wickets, and then Kuldeep and Ishant Sharma struck in the gaps to start a shocking collapse.
Despite a late challenge from Heinrich Klassen and Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar’s quick and precise bowling in the final over, which yielded just five runs for SRH, ended the game in Delhi’s favour.
Earlier in the match, Delhi Capitals’ innings got off to a rocky start, with Phil Salt departing for a duck in the first over. After Mitchell Marsh scored 19 runs in an over, T Natarajan trapped him LBW, putting the brakes on Delhi Capitals’ run rate.
Washington Sundar’s eighth over proved disastrous for Delhi, with David Warner, Sarfaraz, and Aman Khan departing in the space of six deliveries.
However, Manish Pandey and Axar Patel put on a 69-run partnership that rescued Delhi from a disastrous beginning to the inning, with Pandey and Patel scoring 34 runs each.
Despite the outstanding performance of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who finished with 2/11 in four overs, including the wicket of Axar, the Sunrisers were unable to prevent Delhi Capitals from scoring a respectable 144.
Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad will face off again each other in Delhi on April 29.
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