The stage was set for him. This,after all,was where he had smoked a 174-ball 187 on Test debut. On Tuesday,captaining Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kandurata Maroons,Shikhar Dhawan struck 71 off 53 deliveries to give his side an easy eight-wicket win. Along with Parthiv Patel,Dhawan sent the Sri Lankan team captained by Kumar Sangakkara,who chose Maroons over Sunrisers for the Champions League on a leather hunt and raised 121 in just 13.5 overs to get the team off to a flying start. Chasing Maroons 168,the Sunrisers needed a special knock from Dhawan at the top of the order,as he had done numerous times during the last IPL season,when,despite being sidelined for the first few games,he had emerged as the sides top scorer with 318 runs in 11 innings. And he delivered. Dhawan began his innings on a cautious note. He didnt seem to mind letting his partner take centre-stage. At the end of the fifth over,Parthiv had raced to 23 off 16 while Dhawan was on 17 off 14. He hadnt yet brought out the trademark lofted shots and cuts. The introduction of Ajantha Mendis got him going. Three exquisite boundaries off the third,fourth and fifth balls of Mendis first over,in which he conceded 14 saw Dhawan racing to 30. He did not look back after and drove to long on to bring up his 22nd T20 fifty. Even after Parthiv was out for 52,Dhawan did not let the Maroons off the hook. At the other end Thisara Perera,who had had an off day with theball,hit a sumptuous four and a six off Nuwan Kulasekara to get Hyderabad past the post in style. Earlier,the Maroons rode on half centuries from Sangakkara and captain Lahiru Thirimanne to put up a competitive 168 for three. After their side had lost openers Upul Tharanga and Shehan Jayasuriya cheaply,they added 89 runs for the third wicket to put them back on track. Sangakkara smashed 61 runs off 46 balls; Thirimanne scored 54. While Dale Steyn struggled on the Mohali wicket,Ishant Sharma was impressive and gave away only 20 runs and took two wickets. At one stage,his figures read one wicket for six runs in three wickets,before a late burst from Sangakkara and Thirimanne spoiled his figures somewhat. Brief scores: Kandurata Maroons: 168 for 3 in 20 overs (K Sangakkara 61 not out; Ishant Sharma 2/20) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad: 174 for 2 in 18.3 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 71; Shehan Jayawardene 1/25) McCullum powers Otago to easy win over Faisalabad Looking to loft Faisalabad Wolves left-arm spinner Imran Khalid,Brendon McCullum only managed a top edge. At long off,Asad Ali danced a few steps forward and and then backwards as the ball swirled above him. McCullum watched the ball as it dropped into Asads hands,and heaved a sigh of relief when it popped out. It was the fourth ball of the 12th over of the Otago Volts innings. McCullum,batting unlike his usual self,had strolled to a patient 41. At 85 for two,still needing 55 to win from 44 balls,it could have been anybodys game had catch been taken. Having got a lifeline,McCullum changed gear and blasted 41 off his next 27 deliveries to take Otago to an easy eight-wicket victory,finishing unbeaten on 83 off 65 balls,with nine fours and two sixes. After the fall of Hamish Rutherford for a 12-ball 25,McCullum curbed his attacking instincts and built a steady partnership with DC de Boorder. However,after being given reprieve by Asad,he cut loose. Saeed Ajmal,Faisalabads most potent weapon,was effective on the Mohali track but could not inspire his team after they had failed to put up a big enough total. It was the crisis man Misbah ul Haq,playing his 100th T20 match,who had once again weaved his magic and top-scored for the Pakistani side with a 35-ball 46. Just when a partnership was fostering between Misbah and Khurram Shehzad,pacer Ian Butler dismissed Shehzad for 27 before cleaning up Misbah four short of his half-century. Only some late hitting by Mohammad Khalid,Mohammad Salman and Ajmal pushed the team close to the 150-mark. Brief scores: Faisalabad Wolves 139 for eight in 20 ovs (Misbah ul Haq 46,K Shezad 27; I Butler 2/23,J McMillan 2/24) lost to Otago 412 for 2 in 17.5 ovs (B McCullum 83 n.o,DC de Boorder 30; S Ajmal 1/23)
