KL Rahul and Abhishek Porel picked the bones out of deliveries in the slot to marmalize sixes that were laterally inverted versions of each other. Their bat swings were rapier-like, and the timing as beautiful as the picturesque hills and leafy ramble of trees overlooking the Vizag International Cricket Stadium. The commentators exclaimed superlatives pertaining to size, fielders at deep mid-wicket saw the ball sailing over their heads, and the cheerleaders broke into a choreographed jig that contrasted the freewheeling moves of the few visiting fans in attendance.
When Pat Cummins became the first captain this season to bat first after winning the toss, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals sat smack dab in the middle of the points table, akin to lovebirds. At the end of the low-scoring affair, the two teams were separated by five spots, as if the honeymoon period had come to an abrupt close. The common theme in their batting innings, however, was the performance of the middle order featuring Indians. While Aniket Verma gave SRH ‘half-a-chance’ in Cummins’ words from a tumbledown score of 37/4, Rahul and Porel prevented a loss in momentum as the chase of 164 faced a run-a-ball equation in the second half. Their efforts were all the more significant because of the tacky nature of the surface, as evinced by the three wickets taken by the wrist spinner on each side.
‘’It looked a little bit slow, it looked like it was spinning throughout the day and the cutters were really working. Didn’t seem like it was easiest to bat’’, Tristan Stubbs pointed out. Cue-ended strokes brought about the dismissals of half-centurions Faf du Plessis and Verma, whose usage of the depth of the crease, shot selection on a turner, and cleanliness of ball-striking reaffirmed how crucial it is for IPL franchises to have Indian batters navigating the middle phase. The usually metronomic Axar Patel struggled to control his lengths and on every occasion he dropped the ball short Verma was all over the drag-down like an eczema rash, thanks to swift judgement of the length and weight-transferring ability.
He was quick on the uptake too. Aware that Axar was going to course-correct and pitch the next ball fuller, Verma stepped out and went downtown with a gun-barrel straight bat to bring up the fifty partnership with Heinrich Klaasen in just 22 balls. A product of SRH’s talent scouting in the Madhya Pradesh Premier League where he cracked a 32-ball 100 and 25 sixes in total, Verma scored 30 runs in balls 11-20 after being let off at cover inside the PowerPlay. ‘’Everyone was super impressed with him going into the lead-up to the tournament, was outstanding the way he went about things during the net sessions and practice games.’’ Cummins hailed the top-scorer of the match.
Even when it comes to the need for accuracy of wrist work in the subcontinent, the middle overs are less kinder to the willow-wielders. Travis Head managed a boundary through the covers early on by throwing his hands at the ball, whereas Jake Fraser-McGurk played far from his body at the halfway mark and chipped a return catch. The wealth of experience that Indian batters acquire over years of operation on low and slow decks makes them an ideal fit to take the bowlers on after the PowerPlay, an arduous period to score considering the gradual softening of the ball and the spreading out of the field.
SRH took the field with three overseas men which means that they had the provision to include a foreign recruit as an Impact Player. Given the constant fall of wickets they inserted all-rounder Wiaan Mulder in the death overs, thereby sacrificing the services of leg-spinner Adam Zampa. It was, of course, a sensible move in the context of the game but as a result, Cummins had to entrust part-timer Abhishek Sharma with the responsibility of extracting the juice out of the black-soil strip. He went wicketless, returning an economy of nine in his three overs. Although his captain denied him a breakthrough by giving Fraser-McGurk a life in what was overall an ordinary fielding display from the defending unit, polar opposite to DC’s that was an exhibition of catching brilliance.
With Zampa’s googly out of the equation, Porel enjoyed his positive match-up with Abhishek, advancing down the track to whip an archetypal darter through wide long-on. The resurgent Rahul – he was blessed with a baby girl – was determined to regulate the asking rate back to six as he tore into Mohammad Shami after Ansari bookended the tenth over with the prized scalps of the openers. His stay at the crease may have been brief but, make no mistake, it was spectacularly impactful, keeping the boat from teetering into rocky waters.
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s philosophy of living by the sword and dying by it has made them taste a pair of defeats while Delhi Capitals remain unvanquished after two games. In the brand new leadership of Axar, they would aspire to recreate their purple patch from 2019 to 2021 when they proceeded to all three playoffs and even partook in the grand finale once. His key decisions included giving an extended spell to the on-song Mitchell Starc and asking the typically aggressive Fraser-McGurk to play second fiddle to du Plessis taking into account the manageability of the target.
‘’I have told before that I am going to lead the side in the same manner.’’ Axar stressed. ‘’You need to be up with your game. You can’t take any game easily, there are 10 good teams playing. We need to focus on our plans and process. Today we were successful in doing so. Plan was to give Starc two overs at the start and two overs at the end, but he was in good rhythm. Hence, I gave him the third over and he was able to pick an important wicket. We have experienced players in the team, they give me suggestions. Sometimes I follow them. Enjoying playing with these players. We are playing at Kotla since many years, we’ll have similar plans. Need to assess the conditions after going there.’’
He and his teammates weren’t acting as modest in a recent reel to the backdrop of Delhi-based rapper KR$NA’s I Guess.
All fired up 🔥🤩 pic.twitter.com/51VRyIVqDg
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 30, 2025
