Du-’meanie’ spells doom for Hyderabad

Delhi Daredevils pulled off a commendable win against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, beating them by 4 runs.

In reply to the 167 posted by Delhi Daredevils, the Sunrisers Hyderabad started with Dhawan and Warner, and they played cautiously, not taking any unwanted risks, steering the score to 32/0, thanks to some explosive batting in the 5th over by Dhawan, who smashed three boundaries. From there on, Warner too hit them away, but unfortunately for the SRH outfit, both the openers were removed by Duminy in the 7th over, Dhawan for 18 and Duminy for 28.

This brought together Bopara and KL Rahul, who took the score to 69/2 in 10 overs, needing 99 from 60 deliveries. Rahul got a lifeline in the 13th over, but gave it away as Mathews trapped him for 24 in the same over. At the end of 15 overs, the score was 110/3, 58 needed off 30 balls. Once the 15th over was done, the wickets began falling like an avalanche. The first one to depart was Naman Ojha taken by Imran Tahir for 12, followed by Bopara (41) and Morgan (1), sent back by Duminy in the 17th over, to shake up the score to 129/6, 39 required from 18 balls.

Ashish Reddy and Karn Sharma were the men on the mission, pushing the match till the last over, 10 required in 6 balls. The drama just went one step ahead with Reddy being run out for 15. Karn Sharma too departed for 19, wrapping up the score at 163, giving the Delhi side a great win.

Earlier, the Delhi Daredevils won the toss and chose to bat first. Opening the innings for them were Agarwal and Iyer, but the former took the long walk back rather early in the innings, dismissed by Kumar for 1 in the 3rd over. Duminy was the new man in and soon, the duo cautiously steered the team to 28/1 in 5 overs. They upped the ante towards the 10th over, that resulting in the scoreboard reading 80/1.

However, Iyer’s outing was cut short by Praveen Kumar for 60 in the 12th over, and as soon as Yuvraj Singh walked into the middle, he was given a lifeline, as he was dropped by Bopara. On the 15th over, Duminy attacked Bopara for two fours and a six, to take the score to 121/2 in 15 overs. Dale Steyn did what the doctor ordered, removing dangerman Duminy for 54, Yuvraj falling a couple of deliveries later, taken by Ashish Reddy for 9. bringing together Mathews and Jadhav, who played a late cameo to take the score to 167/4 in the stipulated 20 overs.