Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Axar Patel shared seven wickets as Delhi Capitals went on to defeat bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets at Dubai on Wednesday.
Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat first. David Warner made his return to the SRH side after being left out in the last few matches in the first half but did not have a change of fortunes. Anrich Nortje, whom DC had benched for the entirety of the first leg, returned and bowled scorching fast. His 148kmph delivery was too much for Warner as the leading edge popped up to point and the Aussie had to walk back for a 3-ball duck.
Williamson and Wriddhiman Saha tried to rebuild but could not keep the run-rate flowing. Saha (18 off 17) mistimed a back of a length delivery by Rabada to hole out at midwicket as SRH were reduced to 29/2 in five overs.
Captain Williamson was given two reprieves by DC fielders but could not make the most of it. He tried to go big against Axar only to hole out at long-off, ending his abysmal knock of 18 off 26. Two deliveries later, Manish Pandey (17 off 16) handed a simple catch to Rabada off his own bowling, with the scoreboard reading 61/4 in 10.1 overs.
The 20-year-old old Abdul Samad was the only SRH batter who looked comfortable at the crease, scoring 28 off 21 with some impressive shots. Rashid Khan contributed with 22 off 19 as they reached 134/9 in 20 overs. For DC, Nortje picked 2/12 in his four overs while Axar picked 2/21. Rabada returned with 3/37 from his four.
Chasing a small but tricky target, Delhi were dealt with an early blow with in-form Shaw (11 off 9) getting dismissed off Khaleel Ahmed in the third over. Dhawan continued his superb touch and added a 52-run partnership for the second wicket with Shreyas Iyer, who returned from an injury. Dhawan’s knock ended on 42 off 37 when he tried to sweep Rashid only to mistime it to deep square leg.
Captain Rishabh Pant tagged along with Iyer and added an unbroken 67-run stand. Iyer top-scored for the Capitals with a sedate 47* off 41 while Pant smashed 35* off 21 in a bid to finish the chase quickly to improve the net run-rate. None of the bowlers could do well SRH except Rashid, who picked 1 for 26 in his four. Nortje was adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’ for his exceptional spell.
SRH, who need to win every match going forward to make it to the playoffs, will take on Punjab Kings next while DC will face Rajasthan Royals in Saturday ‘s double-header.
Brief Scores
SRH – 134/9 in 20 overs (Samad 28, Khan 22; Rabada 3/37, Nortje 2/12)
DC – 139/2 in 17.5 overs (Iyer 47*, Dhawan 42; Khan 1/26) won by 8 wickets.
