Riding on a brilliant century from Abhishek Sharma, Sunrisers Hyderabad thrashed Delhi Capitals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Tuesday, April 21.
The visitors won the toss and opted to field first on the belter of the track. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma gave a great start to the host team. They made a brilliant partnership and added 97 runs in nine overs.
After Head was out, Ishan Kishan joined forces with Abhishek and the carnage continued. The latter was at his best, making Delhi's strong bowling attack look weak. Axar Patel tried to contain the runs by giving four overs to part-time off-spinner Nitish Rana against the left-handed heavy SRH top order. However, the move largely failed as Rana conceded 55 runs in four overs.
After Kishan was out for 25 off 13 balls, Heinrich Klaasen continued his purple patch and scored 37* off just 13 balls. However, the star of the show was Abhishek, who produced a brilliant batting display to complete his century. He was dismissed by Rana for 86 runs, but there was no diminution in his grandeur that night. Abhishek remained unbeaten after scoring 135 runs in 68 balls with the help of 10 fours and as many sixes.
In reply, Delhi Capitals lost the wicket of Pathum Nissanka early. However, KL Rahul and Nitish Rana batted with determination and made a partnership of 86 runs in 45 balls. Saqib Hussain broke this partnership in the 10th over and in the next over. Ishaan Malinga Nitish Rana and David Miller were sent back to the hut with back-to-back deliveries.
Samir Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs tried to take Delhi closer to the target, but the writing was already on the wall. Malinga bounced back to take the wickets of Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma in the death overs. Rizvi played a brilliant inning of 41 runs in 28 balls, but it was not enough to give the Capitals the victory. Rana played an inning of 57 runs in 30 balls for the foreign team, but they could only score 195/9 runs in 20 overs. Orange Army won by 47 runs and reached fourth position in the points table.
talking points
1. Abhishek Sharma hits second IPL century, SRH had to bear the brunt of Nitish Rana's costly mistake
Abhishek Sharma is well and truly back to his best. It seems as if he understands his game better than ever. Clarity has also returned in shot selection. On Tuesday, this Amritsar-born player scored unbeaten 135 runs in 68 balls with the help of 10 fours and as many sixes. He scored his second IPL century and also recorded the fifth highest individual score in the history of the tournament. Abhishek was dismissed by Nitish Rana on the score of 86 runs and Delhi had to bear the brunt of the mistake in fielding.
2. End of the road for Pathum Nissanka?
Pathum Nissanka made a good start to the season with some aggressive innings at the top of the order. However, he has now recorded three single-digit scores in six matches. The Sri Lankan batsman was dismissed by fellow Sri Lankan Dilshan Madushanka in the power play by hitting the ball straight to mid-on. Capitals can choose either Prithvi Shaw or Abhishek Porel in place of Nissanka and bring in an overseas fast bowler either Dushmantha Chameera or Kyle Jamieson.
3. Ishan Malinga sets batting heaven on fire
Ishan Malinga has bowled exceptionally well, especially in the last two matches. He was the player of the match against Chennai Super Kings last week, and on Tuesday, he got the wickets of Nitish Rana and David Miller in consecutive balls before returning to the back end to dismiss Tristan Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma. In his four-over spell, the Sri Lankan seamer finished with figures of 4/32.
SRH vs DC: Who said what?
Akshar Patel, DC Captain
The run-outs and the catches we missed – if we had taken it, we could have stopped them (on the missed chances against Abhishek Sharma). But yes, if someone bats so well and there is no flaw in his performance, then credit should be given for such performance. Considering the way Klaasen also batted on the other side, it is not the bowler's fault. When a batsman bats like this, the coach and captain will have to accept that even a captain cannot stop anyone. I was telling the same thing to the bowlers that if you performed well and even then he hit a good shot, then you cannot do anything. You know, you have to move on. The fielding area is in your hands. Catching and run-outs – whatever you can do. And you know, at such times it is very important to support the bowler. So I think that's where we could have done better. (On possible changes going forward) No, it doesn't seem like that right now, because the way the cricket is going – if you see, obviously we are batting well and bowling well. It's like, I think you know, when the wicket is this good, it should be treated as a holiday and forgotten.
Ishan Kishan, SRH captain
What I can say right now is, looking at the way Abhishek batted throughout the innings and Klaasen finished it off, you don't have much to say when you have over 200 runs on the scoreboard on a wicket like this where the ball is going to get old. When he comes, it is not easy for the new batsmen to hit. But still, a lot of credit, I mean, all credit goes to Abhishek, I think. (What's that buzz?) The buzz is just to make sure we focus match by match, one day at a time, and everybody on our team loves to hit. So, we have to give ourselves 2-3 balls to understand what the wicket will be like, what kind of bounce there will be, and we just play our game. We don't think that much. We don't have any plans behind it, but we just want to see the ball and play our game. (What was the plan behind Harsh being caught behind?) I think I wanted the ratio of balls to runs as high as possible when the batsman is trying to hit hard, which is not easy on such wickets. And I know Harsh Dubey, whenever I get him, he is capable of bowling good balls. He is a very smart bowler. And I just spoke to him and I said you will bowl the most important overs. But the plan was to include his best bowlers when needed, when the team's two best batsmen were batting. And I think it worked very well for us. (Are you the very vocal captain in that change room?) Not that much, I just say enjoy.
Abhishek Sharma, Player of the Match
The way we started, we had a plan, me and Headey wanted to use the powerplay. But the wicket was slow, so we had to adjust and make different plans. We don't know the exact score until both innings are batted. Special mention to the team coaches and captains, when they give you the freedom to go and express yourself. You must have the support of the captain and coach. The management we had in 2024 was a game-changer. I always wanted to play like this, I play like this for Punjab and Punjabi players like to play freely. I have been doing L Celebration for a long time, it is for the love of the stadium. The second thing is that my parents are here and it is special. To be honest, since my U12 days, my dad has been sitting and telling me how to play. It's really incredible how he's always watching me and I'm watching him, and he gives me instructions.
Get every cricket update! Follow us: :
Leave a Reply