IPL 8: DD switch off in the end

These weren’t really batting-friendly conditions in Raipur. The pitch offered extra bounce and the big ground made it difficult for the batsmen to clear the boundary with ease. In spite of that — or perhaps because of the same reason — the Sunrisers Hyderabad opted to bat after winning the toss. For, they knew if they could put anything above 150 on the scoreboard, it would make the chasing team’s task tougher at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium. Their blockbuster opening combination of David Warner (17) and Shikhar Dhawan (13), however, could not adjust to the conditions, getting dismissed rather cheaply. The Delhi Daredevils seemed to have smothered the Sunrisers, with Zaheer Khan (3/33) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (2/25) causing the most damage.

Henriques heroics

It came as bit of a surprise when all-rounder Moises Henriques walked in to bat at No. 3, ahead of the likes of Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara. With the ball still doing a bit, the Australian struggled to connect well or even rotate the strike. He was 10 off 16 deliveries at the end of 11 overs, and by that time, the Sunrisers had lost their all three half-centurions of this season. Their innings was hobbling at less than six-an-over when Henriques unleashed an incredible counter-offensive. Off the next 30 deliveries that he faced, he plundered 64 runs, including five massive sixes, to help SRH post a healthy 163.

Quinton-and-Karn show

In Quinton de Kock, Shreyas Iyer had a new opening partner. In his maiden appearance this season, the South African played with trademark ease, peppering the off-side with boundaries. He looked more comfortable than most other batsmen and DD seemed to be cruising along until de Kock tried one shot too many and got stumped on 50 in Karn Sharma’s first over. The leggie proceeded to scalp Duminy in his next over to put the brakes on DD’s quick start.

Death knell

At 66 for four in the 11th over, the Daredevils seemed to have lost the plot. But Kedar Jadhav was in no mood to give up without a fight. He scored a blitzy half-century, his second in the IPL, as he brought the required run-rate for the Daredevils from roughly 12 with eight overs remaining to less than eight in the last three. He hit seven fours and two sixes in the four-over period after the 13th, but ran out of steam towards the end. Their task was made tougher by some brilliant bowling at the death, especially by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who served a mix of yorkers and low full-tosses in the penultimate over to strangle the Daredevils. Jadhav needed to hit a six off the last ball to tie the game, but he hit it straight back at Ishant Sharma to hand the Sunrisers the win that took them to fourth place on the table. The Delhi Daredevils, meanwhile, were left to rue another summer of disappointment.

Brief scores: SRH 163/4 in 20 overs (M Henriques 74 n.o, E Morgan 22; N Coulter-Nile 2/25); DD 157/4 in 20 overs (K Jadhav 63 n.o, Q de Kock 50, S Tiwary 26 n.o; K Sharma 2/12)