IPL 2023: Washington Sundar's three-fer, three run-outs helps SRH restrict Delhi Capitals to 144/9

Sundar got the wickets of DC skipper David Warner (21), Sarfaraz Khan (10) and Aman Hakim Khan (4) within six balls as Delhi Capitals slumped to 62/5 after electing to bat first on winning the toss.

Manish Pandey (34 off 27) and Axar Patel (34 off 34) revived the innings a bit but Delhi Capitals lost wickets in a heap again as they ended up with a below-par score at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here.

While Sundar claimed 3-28 off his four overs, experienced pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was at his miserly best with 2-11 in four overs. Sunrisers also affected three run-outs in all as they restricted Delhi to a small total.

Earlier, Delhi Capitals failed to capitalise on the Power-play, losing the Australian pair of Phil Salt (0) and Mitchell Marsh within the first five overs as they slumped to 30/2. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck the first blow for Sunrisers Hyderabad when he had Phil Salt poking at and edging behind a wide-one to wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen.

Delhi Capitals' problems were compounded further when Washington Sundar struck a triple blow in the eighth over. He claimed DC skipper David Warner, who chose to bat first on winning the toss, attempted a slog sweep to Harry Brook at deep backward square leg. Warner had hammered Sundar for a four and six off successive balls in the fourth over, the six a slog-sweep that landed five rows into the stands.

A delivery later, Sarfaraz Khan, who was brought into the playing XI in place of opener Prithvi Shaw, played a similar slog sweep and found Bhuvneshwar Kumar making no mistake at the deep backward square leg.

From 58/4 in the eighth over, Delhi Capitals were reduced to 62/5 off the last ball of the over when Aman Hakim Khan, who slogged the previous delivery for four, played an ugly heave again but this time was caught skied a catch to Abhishek Sharma at the edge of the cover in the ring.

Manish Pandey and Azar Patel revived their innings a bit as they added 69 runs for the sixth wicket, taking them past the 100-run mark. Pandey scored 34 off 27, hitting two boundaries while Axar struck a run-a-ball 34.

But just when they were looking in a position to make a dash for a big score in the last five overs, Delhi Capitals lost three quick wickets -- losing Pandey, Patel and Anrich Nortje within 10 deliveries to slump from 131/5 to 139/8.

Axar Patel was castled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar with a superb yorker while both Pandey and Nortje were run out, going for a dicey second run as the SRH fielders did not make any mistakes. Washington Sundar recovered well from a fumble to send in a fine throw to the keeper to catch Pandey short. Nortje had a major confusion with Ripal Patel over a second run and was caught well short by Umran Malik with a good throw to the keeper.

Delhi Capitals were not done, as they lost Ripal Patel to a run out in the final over when wicketkeeper Klassen brought down the stumps with an underarm throw and Delhi Capitals could only manage a below-par 144/9.

Brief scores:

Delhi Capitals 144/9 in 20 overs (Axar Patel 34, Manish Pandey 34; Washington Sundar 3-28, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-11) against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

--IANS

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( 618 Words)

2023-04-24-21:42:05 (IANS)