Delhi Daredevils kept their chances of qualifying for the Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs alive after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets at the Ferozeshah Kotla.
On paper, it was a mismatch between Daredevils and Sunrisers but the hosts put on a collective batting effort to register a win with five balls to spare.
With their third win in the tournament, Delhi moved up to the sixth spot with six points while Hyderabad are still at the third spot with 13 points after their fourth away loss in the tournament.
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All-rounders Corey Anderson’s quick-fire 24-ball unbeaten 41 and Chris Morris’ 7-ball 15 helped Delhi raise an unbeaten 41-run fifth wicket stand to register the much-needed win.
Chasing a mammoth 186, Delhi were off to a decent start with Sanju Samson (24 off 19 balls) and skipper Karun Nair (39 off 20) putting on 40 runs before medium pacer Mohammed Siraj packed back Samson.
Samson, who had faced 19 balls by now and struck two boundaries and a six off Siraj’s first delivery of the match, was undone by a slower one in the bowler’s second over which Shikhar Dhawan latched on comfortably at cover point.
Nair looked in good touch during his brief stay, which saw the ball crossing the boundary on five occasions besides twice over it.
The right-hander could add 32 runs for the second wicket with wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant (34 off 20) before the first strategic time-out once again saw the dismissal of a batsman, this time in the form of Nair.
Medium pacer Siddharth Kaul, who was clobbered for a six and a four in his very first over by Nair, got his knuckleball to send the right-hander back caught by Bhuvneshwar Kumar at long-off.
With both the openers back in the dug out, the onus was on Pant and new man Shreyas Iyer (33 off 25) but Siraj, after getting clobbered for a six in the previous ball got a toe crusher to cannon into the southpaw’s stumps. The right-handed duo batted well to put 37 runs for the third wicket before being separated by Siraj.
Pant’s dismissal brought together all-rounder Corey Anderson and Iyer, who was at his destructive best, clobbering two consecutive sixes off Yuvraj Singh, before Purple Cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar packed Iyer back with a slower bouncer.
Anderson then took on the responsibility and with new man Morris, wasted no time in using the long handle. With 24 needed off the last three overs, Anderson clobbered Bhuvneshwar for a six and a four off back to back balls before Morris sent Kaul outside the park to take Delhi within sniffing distance of the win.
Earlier, Yuvraj Singh (70 not out from 41 balls) made the most of the life he got on 29 when he was dropped bySamson at deep square, to propel Sunrisers to 185/3 after being sent to bat.
The Punjab batsman, who initially struggled to put bat to ball opened up with two glorious straight drives before bringing up his fifty in 34 balls, and help the visitors accumulate 71 runs in the last five overs.
The left-hander made the most of South African Kagiso Rabada’s poor line and length, clobbering him for a four and six off consecutive balls in the 18th over.
All-rounder Moises Henriques (25 not out) played the perfect second fiddle to Yuvraj as the left-right combo added an unbeaten stand of 93 runs for the fourth wicket from 51 deliveries.
Skipper David Warner (30 from 21) and Dhawan (28 from 17) gave the visitors a flying start, putting on 53 runs before pacer Mohammed Shami in his very second delivery cleaned up the Aussie, who struck four boundaries and a six over backward point.
New Zealander Kane Williamson (24 from 24) along with Dhawan added 22 runs before the first strategic time-out did the trick for Delhi, in the form of the southpaw’s wicket.
IANS
