Spurred by a superb bowling performance, Sunrisers Hyderabad cruised to a six-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Saturday night.
Rarely straying in line or length, the Sunrisers’ bowlers’ nagging accuracy left each member of its six-man attack with at least a wicket, the spinners and speedsters complementing each other splendidly in executing a well-orchestrated gameplan.
Set a modest target of 81, Sunrisers’ run-chase was no show-piece of batsmanship, often on tenter-hooks after Daredevils turned to the spin-trio of Jeevan Mendis, Johan Botha and Shahbaz Nadeem.
Semblance of stability
Only the openers showed a semblance of stability as the boundaries largely dried up after their exit, runs eked out mostly through singles, until man-of-the match Darren Sammy came to the middle.
Taking his time to tackle the spinners, he came into his own with a six shortly after.
Opting to bat, Daredevils lost Mahela Jayawardene early, rapped on the frontfoot by Ishant Sharma. If the lanky quick opened with a maiden, his mates Dale Steyn and Thisara Perera beat the bat time and again, constantly keeping the visitors in check.
With a fourth of the innings behind them and the run-rate barely over three, the urge to get the scoreboard ticking told on young Unmukt Chand who cut loose with a couple of boundaries. That the bowlers would soon call the shots became evident when Darren Sammy’s pacifier popped out soon after he had Virender Sehwag’s off-stump pegged back.
Unmukt took the liberty of tickling Steyn down to the fine leg ropes, but he paid the price with his bat a critical quarter second late in its appointment with the ball and his off-stump taking a tumble consequently.
All at sea
Warner, grassed at extra cover by Hanuma Vihari, failed to cash in on the reprieve. All at sea against spin, he was foxed by an Amit Mishra delivery.
With the top order tamed, the Hyderabad bowling tormented the middle and thereon as the procession to the pavilion continued in an overall abject batting display.
