IPL 2025, SRH vs DC Highlights: Wet outfield forces game to be abandoned in Hyderabad, Sunrisers eliminated

We have visuals of super sopper trying its best to dry out the puddles at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. 'Here things are really not looking great. Let's hope we get 6 or 7 overs now,' says cricketer-turned-analyst Sanjay Bangar on the JioHotstar commentary. 

We are seeing puddles of water as the rain has stopped in Hyderabad. But will play continue? 

Former India cricketer Piyush Chawla, who is on JioHotstar doing commentary, says: "The scenes are not looking great to be very honest. The puddles which we saw, they will take a lot of time to clear. You need 100 percent conditions because at this time on the tournament we don't want any injuries to happen. Umpires will also have a proper look to see that there's nothing risky for players."

So the rain is still battering Hyderabad and we are in a holding pattern for the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals game.

There are two times on the clock we need to be aware of: 

• The SRH vs DC game has to start by 10:33 pm or else we will start having overs getting reduced.
• Cut off time for a 5-over game is 11.42 pm

Tanishq Vaddi, The Indian Express' reporter on the ground at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, wrote: "The heavens have opened up quite suddenly here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. While the groundmen were doing their job during the innings break the rain started to pour. It started as a harmless-looking drizzle. But after a thunderstorm it has started to pour down and the ground is now fully covered."Tanishq reports that the SRH vs DC game has to start by 10:33 pm (which is just 20 minutes from now) or else we will start having overs getting reduced. By 11.40 pm, the umpires need to be assured that at least five-overs game can happen.

How things stand... so if there is no result tonight, SRH can only reach 13 points maximum and four teams are already 14+. A point might not be the worst thing for DC in the short term because they looked all set to earn 0 points tonight. 

It looks like the rain is still pretty heavy and things are not looking good for a resumption any time soon. 

If is a washout, SRH will be mathematically out of the playoff race. 

THE RISHABH PANT DILEMMA 

With only one half-century in this IPL, Rishabh Pant has struggled for form in the tournament. With a knock of 18 runs in Lucknow Super Giants’ 37-run loss against Punjab Kings at Dharamsala on Sunday evening, Pant now has a total of 128 runs in 11 matches this season and is failing to get his rhythm. With Pant, who was the most expensive buy at the last IPL auction at Rs 27 crore, also donning the wicket-keeper role for the Capitals, former Australian captain Aaron Finch has suggested that the captain hands the wicketkeeping duties to teammate Nicholas Pooran. “It must be tough captaining while keeping wickets. You only have a few seconds to communicate with your bowlers. There’s pressure to get the overs done on time, so you’re left with maybe 10–15 seconds to talk, if that. It can be hard to stick to a plan because the bowler’s thinking can change ball by ball. Maybe he could say, ‘Hey Pooran, can you keep for a game? I need to get my rhythm back,” Finch told JioHotstar post the match.

OH DEAR. The update now from Tanishq at the venue is that it is not looking good. Raining quite heavily in Hyderabad it seems. 

Stay tuned for more 

And now the covers are coming on! Tanishq Vaddi says the rain is not that heavy, just a couple of covers on at the moment. 

Tristan Stubbs spoils another good Eshan over with a four off the very last ball of the innings. But a big high five from Cummins to the Sri Lankan pacer, who did alright in the death overs. 

DC have managed to post a semi-decent 130 after being in deep trouble at one stage. Good use of the Impact Sub as Ashutosh joined Stubbs and put on an useful 7th wicket stand. 

Eshan Malinga to bowl the last over, and he starts off well. 2, 1, 1 off the first three balls. He then digs one in short, and makes Ashutosh go towards midwicket from the offside. There is not enough power behind it. Caught. Ends a good knock from the Impact Sub. 

Ashutosh Sharma c Abhinav Manohar b Eshan Malinga 41 (26 balls)

SIX! Ashutosh smacks one down the ground, didn't actually look like he connected all that well but there is enough power behind it to carry the ball towards the sightscreen. But Harshal comes back well in that over, eventually just 9 off it despite the six off the first ball. 

Oh that was shaping into a really good over from Eshan, with plenty of good pace variations. Then Stubbs plays a lovely shot off the last ball of the over for four.

Ashutosh Sharma is making an impact on this match alright. Another boundary for him as he cuts a short a ball over point for a four, good elevation off the backfoot. HE finishes the over with a four over mid off, back-to-back boundaries. Expensive over from Harshal, who would still have to bowl one more with both Unadkat and Cummins bowled out. 

The SRH captain is back to try and break this partnership, the last recognised one really for DC. So you could see why Cummins to0ok the lead here. No wicket though, but it is a tight enough over. Just 7 off it and Cummins finishes with 4-0-19-3. Stunning. 

Ashutosh starting to make his impact. Takes on Zeeshan twice in that over and clears the fence. First over long on, that was a proper swing of the bat. Next ball, Zeeshan actually deceives Ashutosh who hasn't reached the pitch of the ball but still has the power to clear the sightscreen. Some power! 

4-0-13-1, by the way, is how Unadkat finished his night's work just before the timeout. And that means SRH can bring on Travis Head already, on to do some fielding before doing his work with the bat in a short while. 

Just a whole bunch of singles since the last wicket fell. Stubbs and Ashutosh looking to stablise proceedings. The camera briefly pans to the night skies in Hyderabad and looks like there is a drizzle. Rain was expected for this match. But for now we are good to continue. 

Well, not Sameer Rizvi, it is Ashutosh Sharma who is the IMPACT SUB for Delhi Capitals. Porel is the man subbed out, which means KL Rahul will don the gloves today 

HORRIFIC FROM DELHI CAPITALS! Tristan Stubbs hits the ball towards midwicket and takes off, always intending to come back for the second run. Nigam however stops just outside the crease after completing the first run, almost frozen. It is so bad as Stubbs sprints to completes the run and Nigam was outside the crease still, seeing Stubbs go past him. It's Vipraj who is run out, eventually confirmed after a long delay. 

Vipraj Nigam run out (Aniket Verma/Zeeshan Ansari) 18 (17 balls)

Just one over for Zeehsan and it is Harshal Patel once more. Stubbs gets himself a four in that over as DC rebuild slowly. 

Perhaps that Zeeshan over has encouraged Cummins to throw an over to Abhishek Sharma. Dry pitch, there was some turn on offer and Cummins goes to his part-time left arm spinner. Tidy over too, just 5 off it. 

The first six of the night and it's the first ball after the timeout. Spin time, with Zeeshan into the attack. Short ball and Vipraj launches it over deep midwicket. Cummins has been faultless tonight but maybe a missed chance in that over. There was hint of turn for Zeeshan and there was an outside edge earlier in the over too. If there was a slip in place, the last ball was heading straight to him. Wrong 'un, outside edge goes for four. 

Phew. Whirlwind stuff in Hyderabad. Nearly a sixth wicket for SRH as Nigam survives not once but twice. Two half chances for a catch in that Eshan Malinga over, both times Nigam managed to evade the fielders somehow. 

Nightmare for DC, this. In all likelihood they would have to use a batting sub soon and looks like it will be Sammer Rizvi. 

AND THAT IS A MASSIVE BLOW! Any hopes of a DC comeback would have rested on KL Rahul and Unadkat strikes with the first ball of the 8th over to put paid to that. It is Ishan Kishan's 4th catch, a diving effort as Rahul gets an outside edge. Probably one of the more fuller deliveries bowled today and Rahul pokes at it. Nice change up. DREAM STUFF FOR SRH. 

KL Rahul c Ishan Kishan b Unadkat 10 (14 balls)

A dream powerplay for Pat Cummins and SRH. Actually, they might not have even dreamt this. Four big wickets. 

In all the carnage, Rahul played a stunning on-the-up cover drive in that Harshal Patel over for four. 

26/4 in the powerplay. 

CAPTAIN MARVEL! As the commentator Alan Wilkins puts it. You can't keep Cummins out of the game. Axar Patel doesn't pick up the pace off Harshal Patel's hand and throws his hands at this, losing the grip on his bat. It is skied and Cummins backpedals from mid off to take a really really good high catch, over his shoulders. 

Axar Patel c Cummins b Patel 6 (7 balls)

WOW, WOW. Pat Cummins has struck again, with the first ball of his third over. This is sensational from the SRH captain. Length ball again, Porel plays all around it, the leading edge goes high up. And it is Ishan Kishan once again with his third catch! This one a really nice take, calling early and taking it nearly at square leg. 

Abishek Porel c Ishan Kishan b Cummins 8 (10 balls)

It's taken quite a while, but Porel hits the first four of the night, through the square leg off Cummins. Unadkat continues from the other end and DC's struggles with timing and placement continue. SRH are sticking to hitting the hard lengths, just beyond the middle of the pitch. Good execution of plans. Just four runs, Unadkat beats the outside edge of Rahul with another length ball. 

THE AUSSIE CAPTAIN IS LEADING FROM THE FRONT FOR SRH! Du Plessis just didn't look like he got the feel for this pitch. It's the hard length from Cummins again, Faf dances down the track and goes for the pull shot. the ball gets an under-edge and Ishan has another catch behind the stumps 

Faf du Plessis c Ishan Kishan b Cummins 3 (8 balls)

It's a very slow start for DC. No boundaries in the first two overs. Faf du Plessis seems to having trouble picking up the pace of the pitch, couple of mishits in that over. Shane Watson reckons there is extra bounce on this wicket. 

Since that stunning knock against MI, Karun Nair has completely lost his form. 

His run of scores: 0, 31, 15, 4, 15, 0

PThe SRH captain has taken the new ball and he has struck immediately, a proper Test match peach to get the outside edge of Karun Nair's bat and his poor run after that knock against MI continues. A first-ball duck, caught behind. Interestingly, Ishan Kishan has the gloves today. It is a terrific first over from Aussie star. Porel joins Faf du Plessis in the middle. 

Karun Nair c Ishan Kishan b Cummins 0 (1 balls)

A WICKET ON THE FIRST BALL FOR CUMMINS! 

And Karun Nair is walking back after edging the first ball to the keeper, Ishan Kishan.A hint of swing there, and it flummoxes Nair. What a ball, first up. 

And Delhi Capitals are 0/1 after 0.1 overs

Pat Cummins with the ball for SRH. 

Karun Nair and Faf du Plessis with the bat for Delhi. 

Play on, says the umpire after the entire stadium counts us down! 

Here we go, players are walking onto the ground. And we have some big team news update from SRH (which we would have known if Ravi Shastri had asked Pat Cummins about it). There is no Nitish Kumar Reddy in the entire playing squad today. Sachin Baby is back in the IPL after a while.

Delhi Capitals Remaining fixtures:– v SRH (away), v PBKS (away), v GT (home), v MI (away)

Taking on three top 4 teams in their upcoming matches, Delhi Capitals find themselves in a tight spot after squandering their positive start to the campaign in recent matches. Down to 12 points in 10 matches, DC can still reach 20 points should they win all games. That would also mean the eventual cut-offs could trim even below 18 points, but Axar Patel’s men can only rest assured if they rack up three more wins, at least. Given the remaining fixtures, the match against SRH is massive!

Best Possible Finish: 20 points

SUBS LIST: 

SRH: Travis Head, Mohammed Shami, Harsh Dubey, Rahul Chahar, Wiaan Mulder

DC: Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Kumar

SRH first XI: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sachin Baby, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (capt), Harshal Patel, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga, Jaydev Unadkat

DC first XI: Abishek Porel, Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel (capt), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan

A nice line from KL Rahul at a fan event organised by DC. 'Until I became a father, the best feeling I had was receiving my Test cap. But now nothing can top the feeling of holding your baby' 

Oh that's nice to see. Back in Hyderabad, against his former side, T Natarajan is back in the playing XI. He has been missing due to injury but his return could be a boost to DC's death bowling especially. Nattu and Starc together, that's some combo. 

Not clear from the toss interview what the teams are, we will have to wait a bit. 

Chennai Super Kings have signed Gujarat wicketkeeper-batter Urvil Patel as a replacement for Vansh Bedi, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the IPL due to a ligament tear in his left ankle. Patel made headlines in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy when he smashed a 28-ball century -- the joint-fastest T20 hundred by an Indian -- against Tripura. The 26-year-old has featured in 47 T20 matches, scoring 1,162 runs. He was previously part of the Gujarat Titans squad in the 2023 season. Patel joins CSK at his base price of Rs 30 lakh. With just two wins from 11 outings, CSK have been eliminated from the playoff race. They are scheduled to face Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans in their remaining fixtures.

Sunrisers have won the toss and Pat Cummins say they will be bowling first. 

An interesting point from Tanishq in his preview: 

Last season when Sunrisers Hyderabad had taken the IPL storm by their aggressive, high-risk approach Shahbaz Ahmed's performance had flown under the radar. While the likes of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma played the lead role with Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Pat Cummins playing the support cast, Shabhaz contribution was no less. In a star-studded line-up, it was his all-round performance that helped Hyderabad overcome Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier II. He was as valuable member of the squad who went about doing his job without flair. It was not a season where his performance screamed for retention, but it was Shahbaz who slotted in a role that bridged the batting line-up and the bowling unit. Whenever the side needed a quick fix with the bat or ball, they would turn to Shahbaz, who invariably delivered, scoring 215 runs and picking up 7 wickets. Fast forward to 2025, as SRH failed to make the play-offs, all through the season they struggled to find a player who could be their crisis man like Shahbaz.

Hyderabad has been a good batting venue as ever and WV Raman, Shane Watson predict a lot of runs from the pitch in use today. 

Rahul Chahar is starting probably, he is practising quite a lot: Tanishq from the venue

SRH captain Pat Cummins has a nice little exchange with T Natarajan, the former SRH pacer who had a good time in Hyderabad. He has, unfortunately, not been a part of DC's plans so far this season. 

KL Rahul has gone off the boil a bit after a good start to the season. Not in terms of volume, but in terms of match-winning impacts. And today he returns to the venue where he had the infamous "chat" on the field with his erstwhile team's owner Sanjiv Goenka. 

And there is no DC or SRH player in the top 10 of the Purple Cap race as well. But Starc is just outside this list and DC will be hoping he is on top form against SRH, as he did for KKR last season in the finals.

Kohli is (just about) at the top of the Orange Cap race. No one from DC or SRH are in the top 10.

One of the strangest impact substitutes made this season was when SRH brought in Rahul Chahar against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede stadium. After Shami delivered three expensive overs, he was replaced Chahar. On a wicket which was on the slower side, SRH turning to Chahar as an impact sub halfway through the second innings did make sense at the time, but what was baffling was that he ended up bowling only a single over. That has not been just a one-off case where an impact player failed to make a notable contribution.

As long as Abhishek Sharma batted, Sunrisers’ hopes of orchestrating another heist lingered. He had endured fluctuations of form this season, as is expected with someone who is not risk-averse. Hence, five of his 10 outings were single-digit scores. But their best moments in the league have been inextricably linked with him. His 141 against Punjab Kings is Sunrisers most memorable innings of the season. At times, a dilemma had seized him. Whether to tone down his aggression or continue with his full-throttle ways to revive his form. The confusion resulted in a string of poor scores. Even here, he didn’t attack every single ball. He waited for those balls he could unleash his percentage shots, like the thump down the ground, the slash through extra cover or the slap past point. His first three boundary strokes were all sixes, measured rather than manufactured shot-making. There was even a 12-ball phase when his lone boundary was a top-edged four. But with the required run-rate mounting, he raised the ante and hammered sixes off Gerald Coetzee and Rashid Khan to inject momentum into the chase. But a tired, mis-timed pull off Ishant Sharma stubbed the last flickering hope of Sunrisers. With Coetzee removing Ishan Kishan and Prasidh Krishna nailing Heinrich Klaasen, the comeback door was firmly shut on their faces.

By Sandip G, read more here. 

Kamindu Mendis who took what could be a contender for the catch of the IPL 2025 to put the brakes on Dewald Brevis in Friday's SRH-cSK game. In a gleeful debrief of the catch that sent back Brevis threatening to explode more than he already had, the Sri Lankan ambidextrous cricketer said he wasn't quite sure he would reach the ball but he always had the belief and intent to go for every 50-50 chance. Chepauk, forever focussed on the centre square where MS Dhoni either bats or keeps, witnessed an outfield delight as Mendis pulled off his magical moment.  His teammates revelled in the success that eventually helped the Hyderabad team win at Chennai HQ for the first time in many years. "Magnificent" - was how Ishan Kishan described it to the official IPL website. Jaidev Unadkat put it best, saying, "HOW....but wow." Travis Head didn't think words could capture the capture where Mendis dived to his left after running, in the deep and saved a boundary in the process as Brevis was accelerating fiercely and putting SRH under the pump. "Describing the catch won't do it justice," Head said. Harshal Patel, the bowler was overwhelmed too.

Catch of the tournament so far? 

Remaining fixtures: DC (H), KKR (H), RCB (A), LSG (A)

They are still not out is only down to mathematics, but of all the teams their hope remains the bleak. Even if they manage to win all their four matches, they will only end up with 14 points, a tally that is already matched by three teams. So for them to qualify, the rest have to endure losing a streak and then pray net run-rate comes into play, provided they manage to improve theirs.

The provisional ban on South African pacer Kagiso Rabada for using a prohibited recreational drug has been lifted after he completed a "substance abuse treatment program" during the suspension, making him available for his IPL franchise Gujarat Titans.

According to a statement from the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (SAIDS), Rabada, who has already linked up with the Gujarat Tians after serving his suspension, can now take the field. GT will take on Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on Tuesday. The 30-year-old was tested during the SA20 league in January and the lifting of suspension also makes him available for the World Test Championship final against Australia next month. "Mr. Rabada tested positive for a Substance of Abuse and was subsequently notified of the allegation of his doping offence on 1 April 2025. A provisional suspension was imposed and Mr. Rabada returned immediately to South Africa from India," the release stated.

Report by PTI 

Tonight could be the official end of SRH's MINISCULE (literally) chances of still making it to the playoffs.

It's a much bigger match for DC though, who have completely lost their way after a near-perfect start to the season. 

When armed with the new ball, blessed with splashes of moisture and night breeze from the mountains, Arshdeep assumes the streaks of a devil. If chasing 236 was arduous, Arshdeep shut out any faint hopes with a majestic first spell of 3-0-10-3. The three wicket-taking deliveries were routine. Mitchell Marsh failed to get elevation on a leg-side ball; a shade of extra bounce induced the drag-on off Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran swiped horrifically across the line to his nip-backer. But watch the spell as a whole and his genius to bend the ball kicks in. He swung both ways, then seamed in both directions too. After carefully studying Arshdeep’s deviations, Marsh thought he had a measure of him in the first over. But the last ball curved into him in the air and then swung away prodigiously past his outside edge. Only a batsman in imperious nick would have edged the ball; Marsh royally missed it. None of the Australian’s colleagues could fathom his swing, as he mixed his variations with telling success. He purchased sufficient bounce too, the Markram dismissal being the perfect example. His first spell left LSG in tatters.


Read more here. 

ndia are also clear on top in the Men’s T20I Team Rankings even though their lead over Australia is reduced from 10 to nine points. The past year saw them win the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, followed by 3-0 sweeps over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka apart from other series wins over England, South Africa and Zimbabwe. There are no other changes in the top six with England, New Zealand, the West Indies and South Africa following in that order. Sri Lanka have overtaken Pakistan to seventh position while Ireland are now ahead of Zimbabwe, in 11th position. The biggest gain in terms of rating points is for Canada, whose nine-point surge lifts them into 19th position and ahead of Oman, who are the biggest losers in terms of ranking points, with an eight-point drop. Bahamas (up eight places to 51st) and Estonia (up seven places to 61st) are the biggest gainers in Saturday’s update, which sees 100 teams ranked as they have all played at least eight T20Is in the past three years. When the global rankings were launched in 2019, there were 80 ranked teams.