SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) finally opened their account — the last of the eight teams to do so — with clinical batting and bowling efforts, beating Delhi Capitals (DC) by 15 runs in an IPL match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Tuesday.
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan of Afghanistan was the star performer for SRH as he bagged three wickets for 14 runs in four overs, for which he was adjudged the Man of the Match.
After the SRH batters — Jonny Bairstow (53 off 48 balls), captain David Warner (45 off 33), and New Zealander Kane Williamson (41 off 26) — helped their side post a fighting total of 162/4, the SRH bowlers too, rose to the occasion and restricted the opponents at 147/7 in the allotted 20 overs to set up their side’s first win of the season.
Chasing the 163-run target, DC lost opener Prithvi Shaw (2) cheaply, courtesy pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bagged two wickets for 25.
After the early blow, Dhawan (34) and captain Shreyas Iyer (17) forged a 40-run partnership for the second wicket before Rashid Khan dismissed the DC skipper in the eighth over.
Then, after DC managed another 20 runs to their total, Rashid struck again, sending back Dhawan in the 12th over.
Rishabh Pant (28) and Shimron Hetmyer (21) then stitched together a 42-run partnership for the fourth wicket, and that helped their side cross the three-digit mark. However, Bhuvneshwar was in no mood to entertain the SRH batsman anymore as in the 16th over, he accounted for the wicket of Hetmyer while Rashid sent back the dangerous Pant as DC found themselves reeling at 117/5 in 16.4 overs.
Marcus Stoinis and Axar Patel chipped in with 11 and five runs respectively while Rabada and Anrich Nortje remained unbeaten on 15 and three runs respectively, but these efforts were not enough to help DC overhaul the target, falling short by 15 runs.
Rashid was the wrecker-in-chief with figures of 3/14 while Bhuvneshwar picked two for 25.
Earlier, SRH, who were asked to bat, posted 162/4 in the allotted 20 overs, thanks to opener Jonny Bairstow’s half-century (53) along with David Warner (45) and Kane Williamson’s (41) valuable contributions. Bairstow’s knock, which came off 48 balls, was decorated with two boundaries and a six.
Warner and Bairstow provided an ideal start to their side as SRH were 50 for no loss in the initial 6.5 overs.
Leggie Amit Mishra came with a much needed breakthrough for DC as he cut short the SRH skipper Warner’s innings in the 10th over before further jolting them in the 12th over, this time to send back Manish Pandey (3) cheaply.
With SRH being reduced to 92/2, Williamson and Bairstow anchored the innings after adding 52 runs for the third wicket before Kagiso Rabada dismissed the latter in the 18th over.
The South African quick later sent back a well settled Williamson in the final over while Abdul Samad and Abhishek Sharma remained unbeaten on 12 and one run respectively as SRH overhauled a moderate total for the win.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad: 162/4 in 20 overs (Jonny Bairstow 53, David Warner 45; Kagiso Rabada 2/21) beat Delhi Capitals 147/7 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 34, Rishabh Pant 32; Rashid Khan 3/14) by 15 runs.
