Prithvi Shaw scored 56 runs from 38 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad. (Source: AP)Delhi Capitals could have done it the easy way but, in the end, it went right down to the wire but they came out victorious over Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL Eliminator in Vizag. DC won their first knockout game in IPL history by 2 wickets with one ball to spare with Keemo Paul cracking a pull for a boundary following controversy and drama over Amit Mishra’s dismissal. With the win, Delhi have kept themselves alive in the competition and will stay in the port city to face Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 2 on May 10.
Unconfined joy in the @DelhiCapitals camp 🙌#DC now play CSK in Qualifier 2 for a place in the final on Friday. #DCvSRH pic.twitter.com/U0PkOXs1A7
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 8, 2019
Toss: Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field in Vizag.
First innings: Sunrisers Hyderabad had struggled for runs in their previous two matches after David Warner and Jonny Bairstow both left the camp for international commitments. They had mustered 162 against Mumbai Indians and then 175 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the eliminator, on Wednesday, SRH stayed in the same region with Delhi Capitals restricting the flow of runs in the middle to stop them on 162/8.
SRH, despite losing Wriddhiman Saha cheaply, commanded the powerplay overs with 54 runs coming off it thanks to Martin Guptill. Manish Pandey, who had been the pick of the lot in the batting department in the previous games, got the chance to rotate strike before spinners came into the attack.
Keemo Paul went for 3/32 against SRH. (Source: AP)Bar Saha, all SRH batsmen got a start and scored decently well for a par score. Kane Williamson 28 (27), Vijay Shankar 25 (11) and Mohammad Nabi 20 (13) all got going but couldn’t stay for long.
During the middle phase, Williamson and Pandey added only 34 runs from seven overs. In the end, Shankar and Nabi added 36 from 2.4 overs to expand the total.
Second innings: Delhi Capitals matched Sunrisers Hyderabad with an equally strong start from the powerplay overs. If SRH mustered 54 from the first six overs, Delhi went slightly better with 55/0. Prithvi Shaw played the key role in the start with 39 runs from 24 balls.
Rashid Khan took two wickets in an over to arrest Delhi Capitals’ push. (Source: PTI)Even as DC lost Shikhar Dhawan, they were going strong before Khaleel Ahmed struck to dismiss Iyer and Shaw in the same over. With Rashid Khan creating further trouble to get rid of the middle order, Pant turned things around with an expensive over by Basil Thampi.
Near the finishing line, Pant fell and DC had reason to be nervous. It got even more edge of the seat stuff when Amit Mishra was given out obstructing the field – only the second player to do so in IPL history.
With backs against the wall, Keemo Paul remained cool to finish things off with a boundary.
Game changer: There can be two game changers from both teams. Rashid Khan turned the game SRH’s way in Delhi’s chase with two wickets in an over. The Afghan spinner bowled a double wicket maiden in the 15th over with wickets of Colin Munro and Axar Patel. On further inspection, Axar was not out but DC had already used the review, unsuccessfully, for Munro.
How is @RishabPant777 not in the World Cup squad …… Pretty sure #India still have time to change …….. !!!!! #Bonkers #IPL19
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) 8 May 2019
Am firmly now in the Rishabh Pant fan club.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) 8 May 2019
Pant’s virtually snatched the match away from #SRH in one over with brutal hitting. Alas, he’s not going to Englanf
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) 8 May 2019
The second game changer should Rishabh Pant. With Khaleel Ahmed in great form, Kane Williamson ignored him and handed the ball to Basil Thampi for the 18th over and it proved to be a big mistake. 4, 6, 4, 6, 1, 1 from the 18th over took DC from 129/5 to 151/5 which shifted momentum of the game firmly in Delhi’s favour.
Captains speak
SRH captain Kane Williamson: “It was one of those surfaces that produces such close matches. I believed we had a competitive total after the first half, I knew it would be a tricky chase after the powerplay, with such totals there are small margins, we have been in a position of strength before and haven’t nailed it, today was another such day, a little bit frustrating. Delhi played very well, they are a strong outfit and I think they deserved this win, think they will go all the way. We believed it was a winning total and it looked like it for a long time, they started well and had all the momentum, they had some quality players, as expected on this wicket we squeezed them back and got ourselves ahead, we weren’t very clinical with the catching or in our bowling, we weren’t great today. It wasn’t our best performance, a few things needed to be changed and it could have been a winning total. Warner and Bairstow were brilliant when they were here and they were prolific with the bat, we were without them for the last 2 or 3 games, but we still played very well despite missing them, just not quite getting across the line today. We can reflect back on some games, we had similar matches last time around and we were on the right side of those, not this time though, we were on the underside of those totals. We are building well as a franchise and the development process will have to continue.”
Delhi Capitals will face Chennai Super Kings in the IPL Qualifier 2. (Source: PTI)DC captain Shreyas Iyer: “I can’t express my emotions. It felt like I have been sitting and watching for years when it came to the last two years. I could see the happiness on everyone’s faces. Hoping for another one against Chennai. Looking forward to the next game. But the start they got was really good on this track. We controlled in the middle phase. Mishi pa was exceptional as he conceded only 15 runs. The other bowlers did well to bowl economically. I personally feel you can’t really control them (on Pant and Prithvi). When you stop a batsman like Pant or Prithvi, it hampers their mind and their flow. It was good that both of them came good tonight.”
Rishabh Pant scored 49 runs from 21 balls in DC’s win over SRH. (Source: PTI)Man of the Match Rishabh Pant: “If you are set, you have to finish it for your team. Next time, I will try to finish it for my team as I got very close tonight. I just try to be positive. In T20s, you have to have a big over. We practice everyday with the same set of bowlers and we see the ball and not the bowler. Today, I didn’t try to hit it too hard and focused on timing.”
BRIEF SCORES: Sunrisers Hyderabad: 162/8 (Martin Guptill 36 off 19 balls, Manish Pandey 30 off 36 balls, Ishant Sharma 2/34, Keemo Paul 3/32) lose to Delhi Capitals: 165/8 in 19.5 overs (Rishabh Pant 49 off 21 balls, Prithvi Shaw 56 off 38 balls) by 2 wickets.
