DC vs SRH: Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals take on Kane Williamson’s Sunrisers Hyderabad. Here is a lookback at one of the most memorable matches between these two sides.
In Match No. 33 of IPL 2021 that will take place tonight, Delhi Capitals face the Sunrisers Hyderabad. This rivalry has produced a few classics over the years. We look back at one such match, from the year 2018.
The Prelude
SRH visited the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi for a match against (erstwhile) Delhi Daredevils. Both the teams needed to win this game for different reasons – DD to stay in the tournament, SRH to qualify.
Newly-anointed captain Shreyas Iyer had won the toss and chose to bat first.
DD get off to a poor start
Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan got rid of both openers Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy in the same over to peg Delhi back at 21-2.
Skipper Shreyas hung around with Rishabh Pant for a while, before he was ran out by his partner for a score of 3 runs. Delhi were now down to 43-3 and in a bit of trouble.
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The Rishabh Pant Show
Harshal Patel then joined Pant. The two steadied the ship, but just when Harshal was starting to accelerate, Pant ran him out as well. Delhi were 98-4 with just 6 overs left. It looked like they wouldn’t be able to set a big target for the SRH batsmen.
Then Pant started playing his shots. He played all around the ground, and it was one of his early innings of brilliance where he showed the world what he was made of!
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is one of the best death bowlers in the world. Pant lapped, reverse-swept and scooped his way to 26 runs off the last over bowled by Bhuvi! No one had ever seen Bhuvi humbled like that before!
The southpaw finished at 128 not out off 63 balls, as Delhi ended with an above-par total of 187-5.
Dhawan-Kane duo light up Kotla
SRH lost opener Alex Hales early to Harshal, as he was trapped LBW by the all-rounder. Captain Kane then joined Shikhar Dhawan and the two put up a batting masterclass.
Assisted by the surprisingly batting-friendly Kotla pitch and some sub-standard bowling from Delhi, Kane and Shikhar helped SRH chase down the target with 7 balls to spare.
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Their partnership was unbeaten at 176 runs off 102 balls. Dhawan ended up being the Man of the Match for his match-winning knock of 92 not out. His skipper Kane ably supported him, with a scintillating knock of 83 not out off just 53 balls.
Rounding Up
Pant had announced himself with this knock. He had a stellar IPL 2018, with 684 runs to his name, making him the second-highest run-getter of that season. His average and strike rate were both the best among that season’s top 5 batsmen, at 52.61 and 173.60 respectively.
DD became the first team to crash out of the tournament, while SRH became the first to qualify for the playoffs.
3 years later, the fortunes of both are totally opposite! While (now) Delhi Capitals is sitting pretty at No. 2 in the points table with one foot already in the playoffs, SRH is languishing at the bottom with just one victory from seven games.
Will DC continue their impressive first-leg form tonight? Or will SRH roar back like they did last season? Tune in to watch tonight at 7.30 PM IST!
