Sunrisers Hyderabad’s decision to not send fresh legs and in-form opener Jonny Bairstow in IPL 2021’s first Super Over against Delhi Capitals on Sunday baffled fans and cricket pundits alike. Instead, a visibly tired Kane Williamson was asked to join the SRH captain David Warner in a bid to pull off victory after both teams tied at 159 in the thrilling encounter. The decision perhaps proved costly as SRH could only set a target of 8 in the Super Over which Rishabh Pant’s DC crossed on the final delivery.
Bairstow had scored 38 off 18 balls and was the only other SRH specialist batsman to register a double-digit score apart from Kane Williamson (66 off 51 balls), as Hyderabad took the game to the Super Over, scoring 159/7 and tying the score with DC (159/4).
Skipper David Warner, who made 6 off 8 before running himself out, came out to bat with Williamson as the duo managed just 7 runs from Axar Patel’s Super Over. In reply, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant knocked off the runs, claiming their fourth win of the season, while SRH succumbed to their fourth loss of the season. With this win, DC jumped to the second spot while SRH slipped to seventh.
Sensing that the result could have been different had Bairstow been asked to bat the Super Over, IPL fans pulled up a photo of the SRH opener and imagined his reaction from the dugout upon seeing Willaimson and Warner out in the middle.
Bairstow just came out of dug-out and found Kane Williamson and David Warner playing Super Over #SRHvsDC pic.twitter.com/m94BgjmoSD— सुशांत राज (@x_x_stranger) April 25, 2021
Bairstow in shock why the management didn’t sent him to open the super over as we speak#SRHvDC pic.twitter.com/qW3bGtqStw— ᴷᴷᴿ (@aqqu___) April 25, 2021
Jonny Bairstow deserves better team. pic.twitter.com/zZsm3Wlz7X— aivy (@SpiderPant) April 25, 2021
My reaction when I saw Warner with Williamson and not Bairstow in #superover #SRHvDC I gonna blame if they lose !! pic.twitter.com/TfIVcRHsgN— Smriti Shukla (@TherealSmriti) April 25, 2021
Bairstow ko super over me batting ke liye nhi bheja when he scored 38 of 18 balls Meanwhile Bairstow pic.twitter.com/81EFkvRIct
— Yash Hardenia (@Yash_Hardenia) April 25, 2021
Did Srh preserve Bairstow for the 2nd super over? pic.twitter.com/4kkA2uNgFG— Ashwin R (@ashwinney) April 25, 2021
Johnny Bairstow to David Warner pic.twitter.com/4KjQ1czcpp— Sagar (@sagarcasm) April 25, 2021
bairstow be like sala zalta he merse#Warner#SRHvDC #superover pic.twitter.com/Jl0fTuwhOo— (@light_Yagaamii) April 25, 2021
When they send warner instead of Bairstow….My reaction be like…#DCvsSRH #WarnerMake #KaneWilliamson as Captain pic.twitter.com/fCsVFOvYnN— Teja Pvs (@PvStttt) April 26, 2021
38 off 18 balls by Jhonny Bairstow. And he is watching Super Over from dugout. pic.twitter.com/XjsyM9vxWa— Farrago Abdullah (@abdullah_0mar) April 25, 2021
#SRHvDC close enough pic.twitter.com/9M2V1i4PCZ— Sarthak (@Sarthak__18) April 25, 2021
Meanwhile, Warner’s one short in the final ball of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Super Over eventually proved to be a costly affair that helped the Capitals secure a win.
In the final ball of SRH’s Super Over, Warner ran two runs, but had marginally run the first one short. It meant SRH ended with 7 on the board. Chasing 8, DC managed to get it off the last ball. Had that not been a one short, the game would have gone into another Super Over.
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