Big games need big performances and players of big stature to rise up to the occasion for their teams. Marcus Stoinis, Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer and Kagiso Rabada did exactly that for the Delhi Capitals while the likes of David Warner, Jason Holder, and Manish Pandey were unable to replicate the same for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as the former went on to beat the latter by 17 runs in Abu Dhabi to reach their first-ever IPL finals.
This is also the second consecutive season in which Delhi have ousted Hyderabad in the Playoffs and stopped them from reaching the finals.
There were several bright spots in the game for both DC and SRH in this incredible game, but for logistical constraints, we will be sticking to only three.
On that let’s have look at the Hits and Flops from the game.
Stoinis had blown hot and cold in the course of the tournament before the last game against Mumbai Indians when a solid fifty helped him gain some confidence, albeit in a losing cause. That confidence was seen in his batting as well, which was helped by an early chance put down by Jason Holder at silly mid-on. The Perth born did not look back from there as he smashed a cracking 38 off 27 balls giving Delhi the much-needed start before being eventually bowled by Rashid Khan.
But that wasn’t the only contribution from the all-rounder as he picked up three crucial wickets from his three overs as well. And the three wickets that he got were of the prime batsmen of the team, especially the third one where he got Kane Williamson out against the run of play when the Kiwi was going all guns blazing. His other scalps were Manish Pandey and Priyam Garg, both being dismissed in the same over. With figures of 3/26 and 38 with the bat, Stoinis was declared Man of the Match.
A big-game player, Shikhar Dhawan rose up to the occasion once again and took the lead scoring a brilliant 50 ball 78. He looked in the right frame of mind as he smashed the bowlers brutally in the powerplay although after the fifty he slowed down a bit, one of the reasons why SRH couldn’t go beyond 200. There is no doubt in the fact that his contribution was still one of the most precious things as he anchored the innings as well.
With this 78 Dhawan has inched closer to getting the orange cap as he is now just 63 away from KL Rahul’s 670 runs in this season.
Another big game player, Rabada was due for a great performance after having lagged in the previous 5-6 games. And he did deliver on the biggest stage and when it was required the most. The South African not only removed the danger man David Warner but also ended the match with a brilliant penultimate over picking up three crucial wickets of Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, and Shreevats Goswami. Those three wickets were the only hopes for the Sunrisers requiring 30 from two overs.
Rabada finished with the figures of 4/29 and with this four-wicket haul, he has snatched back the purple cap from Jasprit Bumrah as he went past his 27 wickets to reach 29, just one short of most wickets in a season record being held by Dwayne Bravo.
There were a lot of expectations from David Warner, especially if such a huge target was to be achieved. But the skipper disappointed one and all as he was unable to deal with Rabada’s first delivery of the game which was an outswinger and ricocheted to the wickets after hitting his pads.
Warner could only make 2 off three deliveries. His captaincy, especially the bowling changes weren’t that efficient either as he brought Shahbaz Nadeem a slow left-arm against Shikhar Dhawan instead of getting in Natarajan who could have done some damage with his exceptional lengths. All in all, it was a dismal performance from the captain of the team.
The hero from the last game was converted into a zero in this one. The downfall started with the dropping of Stionis at silly mid-on. After that, the same man rubbed salt to his injuries hitting him for 18 runs in his second over. That hitting continued till his last over as only the batters changed but not the fortunes of the West Indies’ Test captain. Holder in total gave away 50 runs in his four overs and took only one wicket.
In the batting department too he did not look in touch and was off colour with his shots. He built a partnership of 46 with Kane Williamson to give some semblance to the SRH’s innings. However, when all that was needed of him was to stay on the wicket and support Williamson, one shot too many caused him his downfall as he holed out to Praveen Dubey in the deep of Axar Patel’s delivery. Holder could only score 11 off 15 balls.
Kane Williamson was the only man from the Hyderabad set up who continued from where he had left against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It seemed that he might just win it for the Sunrisers once again but unfortunately was caught in deep when the team needed 43 from 25 balls, a target that seemed achievable with him in the crease. Williamson scored 67 off 45 balls with five fours and four maximums. He also built two important partnerships with Jason Holder (46) and Abdul Samad (57).
Samad was another who impressed one and all with his big hits against proven international talents like Anrich Nortje and Rabada. The Jammu Kashmir lad hit 33 in just 16 balls with the help of two fours and two sixes trying to get his team home. But the effort was not good enough as he could not finish the game. Young and talented, a lot of opportunities waiting for this man in the upcoming seasons.
Now that Delhi are in the finals, they would expect that the guys who performed today come good in the final, and this time around they are able to give it back to Mumbai Indians after three tasteless one-sided losses.
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