Delhi Capitals (DC) are still alive in the tournament. Their batting may have been going through a disastrous phase but their bowlers did not let Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) chase down a below par target of 145 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on April 24. This was the lowest target total defended by the Delhi franchise in Indian Premier League (IPL) history.
Earlier, SRH got off to a steady start. In the first over, Mayank Agarwal got dropped by Marsh in the first over. Harry Brook faced dot deliveries whereas Agarwal scored quickly in powerplay overs. Anrich Nortje ended Brook's misery in the sixth over. SRH had 36 runs on board after powerplay overs. Not a single boundary was hit in next four overs as Rahul Tripathi tried to play himself in. SRH were 58/1 after 10 overs.
Agarwal ended the boundary drought in the 11th over. In the next over, Axar Patel got his wicket. Agarwal missed his first half-century of the season. He scored 49 runs from 39 balls including seven fours. In the next over, Ishant came back into the attack and got Tripathi's wicket. He scored 15 runs from 21 balls. Kuldeep Yadav tightened the screws and dismissed Abhishek Sharma in the 14th over. The skipper departed too without making an impact. He got bowled by Patel in the 15th over. Kuldeep finished his spell with an economical over. SRH were 94/5 after 16 overs and needed 51 runs from 24 deliveries.
In the 17th over, Sundar played a cheeky shot to get a boundary, Klaasen hit a six to infuse some life into the run chase. In the 18th over, Mukesh went for 15 runs as he conceded three fours. In the penultimate over, Nortje got the big wicket of Klaasen. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 31 off 19 balls including three fours and one six. He conceded 10 runs off the penultimate over. Mukesh was given the responsibility to defend 13 runs in the final over. Mukesh bowled a brilliant over to keep Sundar quiet. He remained unbeaten for 15-ball 24 as SRH lost the match by seven runs.
Earlier, Bhuvneshwar Kumar started off with the wicket of Philip Salt off the third ball of the innings. Salt got out for a golden duck. Marsh went berserk in the second over with four fours off Jansen. Bhuvneshwar was economical in his first spell conceding just two runs. In the fourth over, David Warner took on Sundar and hit his first six of the season. It was also the first six of powerplay overs for DC in the season. T Natarajan ended Marsh's cameo in the fifth over. The Aussie all-rounder scored 25 runs from 15 balls including five fours. Sarfaraz Khan hit a six as well as DC posted 49/2 in powerplay overs.
In the eighth over, Sundar caused a middle-order collapse. He started off with the wicket of Warner. He scored 21 runs from 20 balls including two fours and one six. Sarfaraz went for a sweep and the top edged was caught by Bhuvneshwar. He scored just 10 runs. Aman Hakim Khan got off the mark with a four but lost his wicket next ball. DC found themselves 62/5 after eight overs. Manish Pandey and Patel tried to steady the ship. DC were 72/5 after 10 overs.
In-form patel struggled to find boundaries. In the 15th over, they crossed the 100-run mark. In the 17th over, Patel hit Mayank Markande for three consecutive fours. Bhuvneshwar came back into the attack and got the wicket of Patel. The southpaw scored a run-a-ball 34. In the penultimate over, Pandey got run out trying to take the second run. He scored 34 runs from 27 balls including two fours. Bhuvneshwar bowled the final over. Anrich Nortje got run out trying to take the second run. Playing his first match of the season, Ripal Patel got run out as well. Kuldeep finished the innings with a boundary helping DC post 144/9.
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