Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson remained unbeaten on 92 and 83 respectively to guide their side to victory. (Source: BCCI)
Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson’s unbeaten 176-run stand helped Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Delhi Daredevils by nine wickets on Thursday. SRH’s ninth victory of season 11 in the Indian Premier League, 2018 also propelled them into the playoffs of the tournament. Both Dhawan and Williamson remained unbeaten on 92 and 83 respectively as they nullified a brilliant performance by young Rishabh Pant. Pant smashes his maiden IPL ton at the Feroz Shah Kotla and thereby becoming the first Indian to slam a hundred in the ongoing IPL. However, the experience of Dhawan and Williamson ensured that SRH reached the target of 188 with seven balls to spare.
Expressing happiness over his team’s performance, skipper Kane Williamson spoke at the post-match press conference and said, “We wanted to go out and keep playing as a team. And we have been playing on tough surfaces, so it was nice to go out and execute our batting plans. It’s always tough chasing here. (At the half-way stage) we thought it was a tough surface, keeping a touch low perhaps. Pant played a special knock.”
“Wicket was a good surface towards the end. A bit of partnership at the top, which gave us the momentum. We were batting with intent when chasing 180. I think when you are rotating the strike the boundaries start to come. It was nice to get that partnership. Shikhar was outstanding; certainly put them on the back foot,” Williamson added.
Man of the match Shikhar Dhawan also stated that he was glad to be back in form. “The Gabbar was always there – Yes! He’s back. Rishabh played an amazing knock, he took the game away from us. But we believed that we’ll go in with a positive mind-set. I have played lots of cricket over here (at Kotla). I am glad that I scored 92 runs and I am looking forward to score more runs,” Dhawan said.