Abu Dhabi: Shikhar Dhawan’s (78, 50b, 5×4, 22×6) fine half century and a fine all-round effort by Marcus Stoinis (38, 3/26) helped Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 17 runs here Sunday. DC scored 189 for three in their 20 overs after winning the toss and then restricted their opponents to 172 for eight in ‘Qualifier 2’.
So it will be DC who will be facing MI for the IPL crown Tuesday, While DC will be going for their maiden IPL title, MI have won the trophy four times already making them the most successful team in the tournament. No doubt, MI will start favourites after they won ‘Qualifier’ 1 quite easily.
In hindsight, it was SRH’s poor fielding that prevented them from winning a game which could have been close. SRH fielders dropped three catches, one of which was off Dhawan. They also gave away nine runs through misfields and in these types of matches that can make a huge difference. David Warner’s side had to pay a heavy price for the mistakes they admitted.
Then to add to their woes, SRH were without man in form Wriddhiman Saha. They also lost Warner (two) early and during the chase their backs were against the wall. Yes, Kane Williamson (67, 45b, 5×4, 4×6) and Abdul Samad (33, 16b, 2×4, 2×6) gave them a whiff of hope with a partnership of 57 runs for the fifth wicket. However, once Williamson fell, the writing was clear on the wall for SRH.
Earlier Dhawan and his 86-run opening wicket partnership with Stoinis (38, 27b, 5×4, 1×6) in less than 10 overs took DC close to the 200-run mark.
Dhawan was at his fluent best as he played some delightful shots square off the wicket on both sides. However, it was Stoinis who galvanised the scoring with some tremendous shots. It started in the third over with Stoinis getting two successive boundaries off pacer Sandeep Sharma. However, worst was to follow for SRH in Jason Holder’s next over.
Stoinis hammered the West Indian captain for 18 runs in the fourth over of the DC innings including three boundaries and a six over long-on.
Later in the innings Shmiron Hetmyer (42 n o, 22b, 4×4, 1×6) played a fine knock that took DC close to the 200-run mark.
Brief scores: DC 189 for 3 (Shikhar Dhawan 78, Shimron Hetmyer 42 n o, Rashid Khan 1/26) beat SRH 172 for 8 (Kane Williamson 67, Abdul Samad 33, Kagiso Rabada 4/29, Marcus Stoinis 3/26) by 17 runs.
