3 Memorable clashes between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils in Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad will host Delhi Daredevils tonight at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. Both teams are evenly matched and this promises to be a mouth-watering prospect. As far as the points table is concerned, Sunrisers Hyderabad are sitting pretty in number one position with 12 points from 8 games.

Delhi Daredevils are languishing in 7th position with 6 points from 9 games, hence this is an important game for them as they need to win to stay in contention for the playoffs spot.

Sunrisers have a massive advantage of playing at home with wickets that suit their spinners. Delhi Daredevils will look to carry forward the momentum they gained after a win against Rajasthan Royals in a rain-curtailed match.

The two teams have clashed against each other on 10 occasions, of which Sunrisers have won 6 games and Delhi Daredevils have triumphed 4 times. At Hyderabad, Sunrisers have an edge over Delhi Daredevils by winning 2 out of the 3 games played.

Let us look at the 3 matches played between both the teams in Hyderabad in IPL history.

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#3 Sunrisers bowlers wreak havoc against Delhi Daredevils in a low scoring encounter – 2013

This was the first time both teams clashed against each other. Electing to bat first on a slow pitch, Delhi got off to a slow start. Openers Mahela Jayawardene and Virender Sehwag couldn’t get going due to some tight bowling by the likes of Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma. The Sri Lankan was the first to go as he was trapped LBW off the bowling Ishant Sharma for 11. Virender Sehwag was the next to go as he was bowled by Darren Sammy for 8.

Unmukt Chand and David Warner added 18 runs for the 3rd wicket, which turned out to be the 2nd highest partnership of the innings. Chand was the highest scorer of the innings with 17, and was bowled by Dale Steyn. Warner huffed and puffed in his brief stay before he was stumped off the bowling of leggie Amit Mishra.

None of the middle order batsmen troubled the scorers and in the end, Delhi Daredevils were all out for a mediocre score of 80 inside 20 overs. Dale Steyn, Thisara Perera and Darren Sammy picked up two wickets each, while Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Karn Sharma shared one wicket apiece.

In reply, Sunrisers openers Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel got the team off to a good start. The pair added 33 runs for the first wicket inside 5 overs before Johan Botha trapped Shikhar Dhawan LBW for 22. Rookie Ashish Reddy was promoted to number 3, but he didn’t last long as he edged one to the wicketkeeper of the bowling of Ashish Nehra. A few balls later, Parthiv was stumped off the bowling of Jeevan Mendis for 14.

At 43-3, skipper Kumara Sangakkara and Darren Sammy added 17 runs before Sangakkara was holed out in the deep for 8 of the bowling of Johan Botha. Hanuma Vihari and Sammy ensured no further damage was done as both the pair scored the remaining runs and Sunrisers Hyderabad reached the target of 81 runs with more than 6 overs to spare.

Sunrisers Hyderabad won the match by 6 wickets and for his all-round effort Darren Sammy was awarded Man of the Match.

#2 Delhi’s bowlers setup a convincing win against the home team – 2016

Delhi Daredevils elected to field first in a crucial encounter between both the sides. Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner got the team off to a great start scoring at more than 8 runs per over. Warner was the aggressor as he launched himself against the Delhi spinners.

Dhawan looked in sublime touch too as both the batsman added 67 runs for the first wicket before Warner was bowled off the bowling of Jayant Yadav for 46. Warner’s innings of 46 comprised of 6 boundaries and 1 Six.

Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson added 31 runs for the second wicket before Dhawan skied one of Amit Mishra’s seam up delivery that caught the top edge to hand over a catch to deep mid wicket fielder. This triggered a mini collapse as Yuvraj Singh was soon dismissed as he was caught by Rishab Pant at fine leg, trying to flick a seam up delivery from Amit Mishra for 8.

Moises Henriques was trapped plumb LBW off the bowling of Mohammad Shami for 0. Deepak Hooda was the next to go as he jumped on to his own stumps trying to tap a short delivery from Nathan Coulter-Nile for 10. At this juncture, Sunrisers Hyderabad were 135-5 and were struggling to reach even 160.

Few balls later, Kane Williamson was bowled off the bowling of Chris Morris for 27. The later order couldn’t contribute much and in the end, Sunrisers Hyderabad were reduced for a below par 146-8 in their allocated 20 overs.

Nathan Coulter-Nile and Amit Mishra picked 2 wickets each while Jayant Yadav, Md Shami and Chris Morris shared one wicket apiece.

In reply to Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 146, Delhi lost their opener Mayank Agarwal for 10 in the 4th over. However, Quinton de Kock and Karun Nair stitched together a partnership of 55 runs for the second wicket. QDK was the aggressor as he smashed the potent Sunrisers bowling attack all over the park.

Karun Nair struck 3 boundaries in his 17-ball 20 before being bowled off the bowling of Moises Henriques in the 10th over. At this stage, Delhi Daredevils were 75-2 and required further 72 runs from 64 balls. Quinton de Kock was dismissed 3 balls later as he edged one to the wicketkeeper for a well made 44 of 31 balls. His knock comprised of 5 boundaries and 2 maximums.

With 2 wickets in the same over, Sunrisers believed they had a chance of defending the low total. But their hopes quickly vanished as the young guns Rishab Pant and Sanju Samson, took the attack against the opposition. Both the batsman took calculated risks and ensured no further damage was done.

Pant, in particular, was aggressive against Mustafizur Rahman as he smashed the Bangladeshi bowler for 26 runs in the 13 balls he faced. Sanju Samson struck 2 sixes in his knock of 34*, while Rishab Pant scored 2 boundaries and 3 maximums in his 26 ball 39*. The pair added 72 runs for the 4th wicket and Delhi cruised home with 11 balls to spare and with 7 wickets in hand.

Chris Morris was awarded Man of the Match for his excellent spell of bowling. His match figures read 4-0-19-1.

#1 Dhawan and Williamson’s monumental partnership of 136 help Sunrisers register a famous win – 2017

Skipper David Warner won the toss and elected to bat first on a flat placid pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. Unfortunately, he was dismissed in the second over as he tried to glide one towards the leg side that takes the leading edge to hand over a catch to fine leg fielder. Despite losing an early wicket, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson kept attacking the Delhi bowlers.

The pair scored at more than 8 runs per over and kept the scoreboard ticking. Both batsmen were particularly severe against Amit Mishra and Angelo Matthews as both the bowlers went above 11 runs per over. Shikhar Dhawan showed his class by timing the ball instead of bludgeoning it. His innings of 70 runs were filled with 7 boundaries and 1 huge six. His drives and pulls were a treat to watch.

But the real surprise came from Kane Williamson; the right-handed batsman took the attack to the opposition and played an aggressive knock. His innings of 89 was filled with aggressive stroke play that took the wind out of the Delhi Daredevils bowlers. His 89 comprised of 6 boundaries and 5 hits over the fence.

Both the batsman added 136 runs for the second wicket before Chris Morris broke the partnership. A few lusty blows from Moises Henriques and Deepak Hooda ensured Sunrisers Hyderabad put up a mammoth total of 191/4 in the allotted 20 overs.

None of the Delhi Daredevils could make an impact apart from Chris Morris who picked up all the 4 wickets.

In reply, Delhi lost Sam Billings in the second over. This prompted a counter-attack from Sanju Samson and Karun Nair. The pair added 71 runs for the second wicket in 45 balls. Samson was the aggressor among the two as he took on the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan and Md Siraj.

Delhi looked well on course until a fine piece of fielding from Vijay Shankar that yielded a run out to dismiss Karun Nair for 33. Rishab Pant didn’t last long as he was dismissed in the same over and Delhi were all of a sudden 86-3 in 9.5 overs.

Sanju Samson was dismissed in the 14th over of the bowling of Mohammad Siraj for a well made 42. His knock comprised of 3 boundaries and 2 maximums. With more than 14 runs required per over, Shreyas Iyer and Angelo Matthews tried taking charge against Sunrisers bowlers but it was a tough task as both the batsman couldn’t clear the boundaries when required and in the end fell short by 15 runs.

Iyer put up a valiant effort by scoring 50* off 31 balls but the decision to send Angelo Matthews ahead of Chris Morris backfired as the Sri Lankan couldn’t find the fence when required.

In the end, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the game by 15 runs and for his swashbuckling knock of 89 in just 51 balls, Kane Williamson was awarded Man of the Match.