Abhishek Sharma’s superlative 68-ball 135*, which included 10 sixes and as many fours, coupled with Eshan Malinga’s four-wicket haul set up Sunrisers Hyderabad’s facile 47-run win against Delhi Capitals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Tuesday, April 21. Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on Abhishek’s second IPL hundred and ninth overall in T20s to post a sizeable 242 for 2 after being asked to bat. Delhi Capitals started well in reply but stumbled as the innings progressed and eventually fell short by a decent margin, restricted to 195 for 9.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have moved up to the third spot thanks to their NRR-boosting win, travel to Jaipur to face the fourth-placed Rajasthan Royals on April 25. Delhi Capitals, at fifth spot with three wins and three losses, face table-toppers Punjab Kings in Delhi in the afternoon match on the same day.
Delhi Capitals find themselves in a chasing conundrum. Pursuing 200+ totals has proved an insurmountable task as they’ve failed to cross the line on three such occasions this season. When the scoreboard pressure cranks up, their batting unit is on pins and needles. The lack of consistent partnerships is glaring, and their tactical calls have left the cricketing intelligentsia scratching their heads, be it the Impact Player picks or the bowling changes. For example, eyebrows were raised when Nitish Rana was given all four overs while Kuldeep Yadav was afforded just two.
They would also rue their blemishes in the field, for Abhishek was handed two lifelines. Firstly, in the 9th over, KL Rahul goofed up a run-out, and then Nitish Rana dropped a swirling catch in the deep before the slog overs began. Along with partner-in-crime Travis Head, who scored 37 off 26, and his captain Ishan Kishan, whose quick-fire cameo was nipped in the bud by an unlucky run-out, Abhishek subjected Delhi Capitals to a leather hunt. He has now equalled Virat Kohli’s record for the most T20 tons by an Indian.
Brief Scores: 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.
