Dubai: Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer made an easy task of a chase of 135 to take Delhi Capitals to a commanding eight-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Wednesday, with 13 balls to spare. With this victory, Delhi now sit at the top of the points table while Hyderabad remain at the bottom.
Delhi’s chase began well with Shikhar Dhawan picking boundaries on both sides of the wicket off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the second over. Prithvi Shaw joined the party with boundaries against Khaleel Ahmed. But the left-arm pacer had the last laugh as he foxed Shaw with a slower delivery. Shaw’s mistimed hoick was pouched by captain Kane Williamson taking a sensational catch by running back from mid-on.
Kane Williamson, Losing captain, said, ‘We didn’t start well, didn’t register a decent partnership but never got any momentum, some good scores in the back-end, but pretty much 25-30 runs short. We did bowl well, we have defended modest scores in the past, but it wasn’t to be today which was a bit of a shame. It’s been a difficult campaign so far, but we need to enjoy our cricket and don’t put ourselves under pressure – they were excellent, they are both quality internationals, two of the best fast bowlers going around at the moment and they put us under pressure. They got us into hard positions, perhaps if we hadn’t lost early wickets, we could have done differently, but Delhi were outstanding and played some smart cricket. We need to concentrate on the way we play and try to improve’.
Shikhar Dhawan, Orange Cap, said, ‘ I’m enjoying wearing the cap, I’m enjoying the way I’m timing the ball. Not very true, this surface, it stopped a bit, and we had to plan the game according to the wicket. So it was good to go out there and secure a win. I consciously made an effort to increase the tempo and strike-rate, because I wanted to be an impacful player for my side. It was just about the execution. Rabada and Nortje are our gun bowlers. Rabada always gets us the wicket. Nortje has great pace and his game has improved too, so they are troubling the batsmen. Absolutely enjoying being at the top of the table’.
Anrich Nortje, Man of the Match, said, ‘ Missing out in the first half was disappointing. It was good to have a good start to the tournament for me. Looking at the first game here, it was good to see some grass and then yesterday’s big score – didn’t know what to expect. It was good to keep things simple in the end. Was really happy that I managed to take that early wicket (of Warner). I don’t really focus on who I’m getting out, but I’m happy I contributed to the team’s win.’
Rishabh Pant, Delhi Capitals captain, said, ‘ We discussed that we had a good first phase, and we are happy to start the second phase this way. We said the same thing about focusing on the process and giving it 100% every day. It’s a good bowling performance because we thought 150-160 would have been a good total, so 130-something was a good score to restrict them to. We have one of the quickest bowlers in the world so I think they’re great assets to have.’