Delhi Capitals etched an easy win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Wednesday night after chasing down a target of 135 runs in the 18th over, in the 33rd match of the Indian Premier League 2021.
The Capitals lost an early wicket in the form of Prithvi Shaw who was undone for 11 off 8 by Khaleel Ahmed after getting caught by Kane Williamson in the deep. Williamson took a brilliant catch running backwards but that did not help Hyderabad in checking the run flow of the Delhi based side.
Later, Shikhar Dhawan, who has been in top form in this edition was joined by Shreyas Iyer who was playing his first match of the season for DC. The left-right duo stitched a stand of 50 runs for the second wicket before Dhawan departed for a 37-ball 42 trying to slog sweep Rashid Khan through the on side.
DC captain Rishabh Pant joined Iyer in the middle and the two batsmen made sure that they didn’t lose any more wickets. While Iyer remained unbeaten at 47 off 41, Pant struck 35* off 21 to take the side home. With the win, DC have now moved at top of the points table and are once again looking favourites to lift the title this season.
Earlier in the day, SRH never really got into the groove and lost opener David Warner for a duck. The left-hander’s wicket resulted in a flurry of wickets that fell in regular intervals for the Sunrisers and the side was reduced to 90/6 in the 16th over to eventually get restricted to 134/9 in 20 overs.
Abdul Samad top-scored for SRH with 28 off 21. For DC, it was the fast bowlers who did the job as Kagiso Rabada returned with figures of 3/37 in 4 overs while Nortje picked up a couple of wickets at the cost of just 12 runs in 4 overs. The left-arm spinner Axar Patel also bagged a two-for during the course.
The DC captain expressed delight at starting the second leg of the season with a fascinating win.
“We discussed that we had a good first phase, and we are happy to start the second phase this way. We said the same thing about focusing on the process and giving it 100% every day,” he said in the post-match presentation.
SRH skipper Kane Williamson admitted that the side didn’t really start off well and they eventually fell short of 25-30 runs in the end.
“We didn't start well, didn't register a decent partnership but never got any momentum, some good scores in the back-end, but pretty much 25-30 runs short. We did bowl well, we have defended modest scores in the past, but it wasn't to be today which was a bit of a shame,” he said.
Experts Opinions
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra posted some funny tweets and hailed the DC fast bowlers for their speed.
Journalist and commentator Ayaz Memon lavished praise on Dhawan, Iyer and Pant for their batting efforts.
“Table toppers DC flex their muscle in bowling and batting. Fine all round performance. Restricting SRH to a measly 134 virtually decided the issue before Dhawan, Iyer and Pant made it a cakewalk. Serious issues for SRH, most important being Warner’s continuing run of low scores,” he tweeted.
Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan praised the Delhi Capitals after the convincing win over SRH. “Delhi capitals team to beat now and in the future,” he wrote on Twitter.
Former India bowler RP Singh hailed the way Dhawan and Iyer batted while also lauded Nortje for his bowling.
“Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer scoring runs and Nortje taking wickets. Business as usual for Delhi Capitals,” he tweeted.
DC will now play RR in Abu Dhabi while SRH will be up against Punjab Kings in Sharjah on Saturday.