@B0$
Abhishek Sharma's second IPL hundred - a 68-ball 135 not out which included 10 sixes and as many fours - and Eshan Malinga's four-wicket haul (4 for 42) set up Sunrisers Hyderabad's comfortable 47-run win against Delhi Capitals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Tuesday (April 21). SRH rode on Abhishek's three-figure score and useful contributions around him to post a sizeable 242 for 2 after being asked to bat. DC started well in reply but stumbled as the innings progressed and eventually fell well short, restricted to 195 for 9.
@B1$
@B2$ Sunrisers Hyderabad 242/2 in 20 overs [Abhishek Sharma 135* (68), Heinrich Klaasen 37* (13); Axar Patel 1-23] beat Delhi Capitals 195/9 in 20 overs [Nitish Rana 57 (30), Sameer Rizvi 41 (28); Eshan Malinga 4-32] by 47 runs.
@B3$
Abhishek Sharma and Eshan Malinga. Keep scrolling for 'the how'.
@B4$
When a team gets 105, 84 or even 75 in the Powerplay, a score of 67 pales slightly in comparison. But it was also only the eighth time Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head survived the Powerplay - only the second time this season - with 67 being their lowest Powerplay score in these eight innings. Used to scoring quick-fire fifties inside the Powerplay, Abhishek got 42 off 19 this time while Travis Head had a sedate outing in comparison (23 off 17). Abhishek eventually brought up a 25-ball fifty - in the ninth over - registering his slowest IPL half-century in Hyderabad, with only three sixes at the time of reaching the milestone. Despite the relative slowness, the openers did deliver a quick-fire start, adding 97 runs inside nine overs before Axar Patel accounted for Head's wicket.
@B5$
The tally of three sixes increased to nine in short time. If his first fifty came off 25 balls, his second came in only 22. It was a leather hunt for the DC bowlers as Abhishek blitzed his way to a 47-ball hundred, his ninth in T20 cricket, making him the joint-highest century maker as an Indian in the format. This century came in his 184th innings, making him the third quickest to nine T20 tons. He also reached 350 T20 sixes in the process. Kuldeep Yadav and Nitish Rana bore the brunt of Abhishek's blitz and by the end of the 15th over, SRH had raced away to 183. However, they lost Ishan Kishan amidst the carnage, with Rana cleverly deflecting the ball onto the stumps at the non-striker's end to run the SRH skipper out.
@B6$
Having struck a four off T Natarajan, off the 57th delivery he faced in his innings, Abhishek went without a boundary until the fourth ball of the final over, his 67th delivery. The opener was perhaps tiring, having played his longest IPL innings; his 55-ball 141 against Punjab Kings in Hyderabad last season was his previous longest. But Heinrich Klaasen ensured that SRH's innings got a flourishing finish, as he struck an unbeaten 37 off 13 which included three sixes and as many fours. Two of Klaasen's sixes came off Ngidi in the 18th over, and two of his fours, along with a six, came off Mukesh Kumar in the final over which yielded 20 runs.
@B7$
Although Pathum Nissanka fell early, DC got off to a strong start - thanks to Nitish Rana and KL Rahul. At the halfway stage of the innings, DC had 107 - three more than what SRH did. Of those, 59 came in the Powerplay with Rahul and Rana finding the fence regularly. Eshan Malinga also put down a catch off his own bowling to give Rahul a reprieve. The 100 came up in the 10th over when Rana struck a four off Sakib Hussain to reach a quick-fire 27-ball fifty, but Rahul fell in the same over, hitting a full toss straight to deep backward square.
@B8$
From 107 for 1, DC slipped to 107 for 4 as Rana and David Miller fell in quick succession following Rahul's dismissal. Malinga got the wickets of both left-handers, with Rana's loft finding a diving Abhishek while Miller inside edged one on to the stumps.
Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs kept the fours and sixes coming as they tried to lead DC's recovery, taking them to 155 for 4 at the end of the 15th over. But the required rate had crept up to 17.6. Stubbs added to his tally with a couple of fours off Malinga but the Sri Lankan pacer had the last laugh, getting the wicket of the South African who attempted one reverse-scoop too many. Harsh Dubey was finally introduced in the 17th over when the required rate for DC moved up to 19. It became 22 at the end of the over, and rose to 28.5 at the end of the 18th when Malinga ended his spell with the wicket of Ashutosh Sharma. Sakib bowled a tight over, closing out the game by conceding only 6, as DC needed 51 in the last over. Dubey picked up three wickets in the final over to complete a clinical win for SRH.
@B9$
Sunrisers, who have moved up to the third spot thanks to their big win, travel to Jaipur to face the fourth-placed Rajasthan Royals on April 25. DC, at fifth with three wins and three losses, face table-toppers Punjab Kings in Delhi in the afternoon match on the same day.
