NEW DELHI:
Travis Head
's aggressive half-century, combined with a determined bowling effort, propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to a commanding 67-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) in their IPL encounter on Saturday.
Facing a daunting target of 267 runs, Delhi initially seemed in contention thanks to blistering innings from
Jake Fraser-McGurk
(65 off 18 balls) and Abishek Porel (42 off 22 balls).
However, once both batsmen were dismissed, Delhi's chase lost momentum as SRH's bowlers struck at crucial intervals, mounting pressure on the opposition.
Pacer
T Natarajan
led the charge with four wickets, while leg-spinner
Mayank Markande
provided crucial breakthroughs, contributing to SRH's dominant bowling display.
DC skipper
Rishabh Pant
admitted that the decision to bowl first was taken keeping the dew factor in mind, but it backfired since the dew didn't come in the second innings.
"I think the only thought process behind it was there could be dew which didn't come (on choosing to bowl first), but we would still have had a chance had we restricted them to 220-230," Pant said after the match.
"The powerplay was the difference, they got (125) runs and we ended up playing catching up after that. The ball stopped more in the 2nd innings, that was more than we anticipated, but when we needed to chase 260, 270, you'll need to keep scoring.
Hopefully, we'll come up with more thought process and a clear mindset going forward. His batting has been phenomenal (on Fraser-McGurk), he's been nice for us, that's what we need to do as a team, be together, look at areas where we can improve going into the next game," Pant added.
Earlier, Head showcased his batting prowess yet again, spearheading SRH's imposing total of 266/7. The team's aggressive start saw them amass a record-breaking 125 runs without loss in the powerplay.
Head's explosive knock of 89 runs off just 32 balls, complemented by Abhishek Sharma's rapid-fire 46 off 12 balls, laid the foundation for SRH's formidable total. Shahbaz Ahmed's unbeaten 59 off 29 balls further bolstered the scorecard, ensuring SRH posted a massive total to defend.
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the lone bright spot for DC, claiming four wickets, but it wasn't enough to prevent SRH's commanding victory.
English (US) ·