Delhi Capitals rediscovered themselves just in time to end Sunrisers Hyderabad’s dream run and prevail in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2020 by 17 runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.
The Delhi franchise have qualified for the IPL final for the first time and will be facing defending champions Mumbai Indians in the big match on Tuesday. It will be the fourth time that the two sides will meet this season.
Not being afraid to take some brave decisions paid off for the Ricky Ponting-coached Capitals. They brought back Shimron Hetmyer in the XI, dared the dew factor by opting to bat first and then promoted Marcus Stoinis to open along with Shikhar Dhawan.
Sunrisers, despite being on a four-match winning streak, lacked confidence on the field, dropping catches and giving away unnecessary extras.
Promoting Stoinis (38 off 27 balls) to open was a masterstroke by Capitals as, after an early let-off, the Australian blasted the rival bowlers, particularly Jason Holder, who had a tough day with both bat and ball. Together, Stoinis and Dhawan, who top-scored with 78 off 50 balls, put on 65 in the Powerplay and that laid the foundation for a big total. The Sunrisers bowlers did keep things tight in the middle overs, but Hetmyer (42 not out off 22 balls) helped Capitals post 189/3.
Then, Kagiso Rabada (4/29) delivered a massive blow to the Sunrisers by knocking over captain David Warner in the second over of the chase. Stoinis (3/26) delivered with the ball too to rattle the Sunrisers further.
Kane Williamson (67 off 45 balls) once again threatened to play a match-winning knock and young Abdul Samad (33 off 16 balls) fought bravely for Sunrisers. But Stoinis returned to account for the New Zealand captain.
Sunrisers still had a chance with 30 needed from the last two overs, but Rabada struck thrice in the penultimate over of the game to shift the balance decisively. Sunrisers finished on 172/8.
Saha injury
Wriddhiman Saha has sustained a hamstring tear and that ruled him out of Sunday’s match as well. He had missed the Eliminator versus Royal Challengers Bangalore as well.
The wicketkeeper-batsman has been troubled by his hamstring in the past also. Although nothing has been communicated on the matter yet by the BCCI, hamstring injuries do turn out to be tricky.
