NEW DELHI: It was a woeful Wednesday for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Right before they resumed their IPL journey, the team was jolted by the shock news of their left-arm pacer T Natarajan testing Covid-19 positive despite being in a bio-secure bubble. Close contact Vijay Shankar also had to isolate and despite apprehensions, the match was scheduled to go ahead with the squad as a whole not in the best of shape mentally. And when the lowest-ranked team in the competition came on to bat, their batters carried on from where they left of in the first phase as they succumbed to 134/9 in their 20 overs, which Delhi batsmen chased without breaking a sweat.
Delhi Capitals were one of the best teams in the first phase, and with the return of Shreyas Iyer, the team management chose to opt for last-season’s successful pace pair of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. And the move paid instant dividends with Nortje picking up David Warner (0) in the very first over. The Aussie’s below-par tournament continued and without Jonny Bairstow, the team is looking shaky up top.
Skipper Kane Williamson (18) tried to steady the ship with Wriddhiman Saha (18) but Rabada had other ideas as he beat the wicketkeeper for pace with Saha mistiming a pull to Shikhar Dhawan at midwicket. The Kiwi, usually a cool head under pressure, had an uncharacteristic rush of blood as he holed out to Shimron Hetmyer at long-off off the bowling of Axar Patel. This was despite receiving two leases of life after Delhi skipper Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw dropped him in successive overs.
Manish Pandey (18) followed suit straight after and Kedar Jadhav (3) too didn’t fare any better. With more than half the team gone, Abdul Samad (28 off 21, 2x4s, 1x6) tried his best to help his side set up some sort of a competitive total and along with Rashid Khan (22 off 19 balls), they took the attack to the Delhi bowlers but ultimately departed in search of quick runs.
Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for DC with figures of 3 for 37, while Anrich Nortje (2/12) and Patel (2/32) picked up two wickets apiece. With an easy target in sight, the Delhi franchise came out and played simple cricket with the exception of Shaw who tried to force the issue too early in the innings. Shikhar Dhawan, left out of the Indian T20 World Cup team, hit 42 (37) and ensured there was no further jitters.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 134/9 in 20 ovs (Rabada 3-37) lost to Delhi Capitals 139/2 in 17.5 ovs (Shreyas 47 n.o.).