Delhi Daredevils played some brilliant cricket to script their seventh win of IPL 2016, as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets in Raipur on Friday. With this win, DD are still in the playoffs race.
Karun Nair played a huge role with the bat in that impressive win for DD as he scored 59-ball 83, which comprised eight fours and three sixes. The game went right down to the wire, with DD requiring two runs from one ball, and Nair, who was awarded man of the match, finished it off with a boundary.
With DD requiring 159 runs to win, opener Quniton de Kock had to provide a solid start, but the South African scored 2 runs only before getting out, which was a huge drawback. However, Rishabh Pant and Karun Nair managed to take DD's score to 37 runs in the Powerplay.
Pant and Nair were going at a decent rate, and reached 62 runs in nine overs. They were providing a solid platform for players like JP Duminy and Carlos Brathwaite, who can finish games with their big-hitting skills. With 82 runs on the board in the 12th over, DD lost Pant, and Duminy walked into the batting crease.
If DD were to emerge victorious the left-hander had to play an important role and support Nair as they required more than 70 runs to win. Nair also completed his third half-century of IPL 2016, but his job was only half done as DD required 56 runs from 36 balls with eight wickets in hand.
After a couple of overs, with DD requiring 42 runs from 24 balls, they lost the wicket of Duminy, who has been below par this IPL. Brathwaite, who needs no invitation to flex his muscle, was the man DD were looking forward to in such a scenario. But Nair continued with his impressive show, dealing in sixes.
Brathwaite could not weave his magic through and lost his wicket, but Nair held his nerves, and helped his team emerge victorious, scoring the winning runs for his side in a last-ball thriller.
Earlier SRH got off to a great start, but it was primarily due to David Warner and his incredible batting during the Powerplay that they scored 46 runs. Warner scored majority of the runs, as Shikhar Dhawan was out in the last ball of the sixth over. The Indian batsman was run out brilliantly by Brathwaite, and Deepak Hooda was also out in a similar fashion after a direct hit from Amit Mishra.
They were in further trouble as Yuvraj Singh lost his wicket in the 10th over, and SRH's score read 66 for 3 wickets. But Warner was at his menacing best, completing yet another half-century in IPL 2016.
SRH were not able to string good partnerships, which was becoming a major problem, and Moises Henriques was also back in the dug out in the 14th over. A few overs later Warner, while trying to up the ante, lost his wicket for a well-made 56-ball 71, comprising eight fours and one six.
Naman Ojha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished decently, as they helped SRH score 158 runs in 20 overs, but DD batted brilliantly in the second innings to defeat SRH.
