RAIPUR — Karun Nair’s unbeaten 83 helped Delhi Daredevils (DD) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by six wickets in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 and stay alive in the competition. Despite this win, DD remains in the sixth position with 14 points and all teams from third to sixth have the same points. SRH on the other hand remains well on top of the table with 16 points with one game to go.
SRH had set DD a target of 159, with David Warner top-scoring with 73.
DD’s chase did not get off to the best of starts as it lost Quinton de Kock early. Karun and Rishabh Pant put on 73 runs for the second wicket, but Pant was run out by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. JP Duminy tried his best to get going, but managed to get only 17. Carlos Brathwaite had a field day with ball, but was dismissed for a 7-ball 10. Sanju Samson came in at No. 6 and was there till the end. Nair, however, managed to soak in all the pressure and guide his team home.
DD needed 11 off the final over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Earlier, Warner scored a crucial half-century for SRH, which took it to a good score of 158 for 7. Warner and Dhawan got SRH off to a good start, with Warner doing the bulk of the scoring. Dhawan was dismissed due to some excellent fielding from Carlos Brathwaite. Deepak Hooda, who walked in at No. 3, did not last long.
Yuvraj Singh was dismissed for just 10 as an inside edge off Brathwaite cut his innings short. There was a decent partnership between Moises Henriques and Warner, but Henriques tried to take JP Duminy on and his slog sweep went straight into the hands of Pawan Negi in the deep.
After Warner left, SRH continued losing wickets at regular intervals. However, Naman Ojha and Bhuvneshwar Kumar added 26 runs for the seventh wicket.
For SRH, the injured Ashish Nehra was replaced by Barinder Sran and Morgan came into the playing XI in place of Ben Cutting.
Brief Scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 171-6 in 20 overs (David Warner 73, Moises Henriques 18; Carlos Brathwaite 2 for 27). Delhi Daredevils 161 for 3 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 32, Karun Nair 83 not out; Barinder Sran 2 for 32). — Agencies
