IPL 2018, DD vs SRH: Hits and Misses from the Delhi Daredevils - Sunrisers Hyderabad game 

In a must-win clash against the table toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils won the toss and opted to bat first.

However, they didn’t get off to the best of starts as they lost two wickets in two balls and were on the back foot early on. To make things worse, Shreyas Iyer was sold down the river by Rishabh Pant.

But Pant made up for all his blemishes while running between the wickets as he struck a magnificent unbeaten 128.

He smashed the best bowling attack of this season to all parts of the ground as he took DD from 52/3 in 10 overs to 187/5 at the end of 20 overs.

None of the other batsmen could go past 25 and hence, Pant single-handedly took SRH to an excellent total.

In reply, SRH began well as Alex Hales struck three boundaries but he perished trying to flick a full delivery.

However, that was the only moment of joy for DD in the second innings as Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson batted beautifully and shared a magnificent 176-run stand to take SRH home with more than an over to spare.

This win helped SRH become the first team to qualify for the playoffs this season.

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#5 Miss: DD openers

After scoring a match-winning 91 in his first game of the season, Jason Roy has been disappointing.

Prithvi Shaw has been excellent for Delhi in this season so far. He’s been giving good starts to DD.

In this game, he had a new opening partner in Jason Roy. He struck an excellent 91 in his first game of the tournament this year. However, both openers failed to get going on what seemed like a slow pitch.

Playing his first game in almost three weeks, Roy scored 11 while Shaw scored nine as they were dismissed off consecutive deliveries by Shakib Al Hasan.

Both of them struggled to find the right timing despite scoring a couple of boundaries.

Shaw was out trying to pull a shortish delivery over mid-wicket and only managed a leading edge.

On the other hand, Roy was undone by a beauty where Shakib spun one sharply and the England opener edged it to the keeper.

Thus, it was a not a great game for the Delhi openers as they combined to make just 20 runs.

#4 Hit: Kane Williamson

Kane Williamson was once again superb as he struck his 6th half-century of this season

Williamson has been simply brilliant in this IPL as he has literally carried the SRH batting on his shoulders.

More often than not he’s been the lone performer with the bat for SRH in this season.

He once again stepped up when his team was put under pressure. Chasing 188, along with Dhawan, the SRH skipper took the visitors home.

He was out in the middle in the second over after SRH lost Hales early. The New Zealand captain was quite smart as he rotated strike very well early in the innings when Dhawan was going well at the other end.

He was on 22 off 21 deliveries at the end of the ninth over. But he slowly changed gears and got to his sixth half-century in 38 deliveries as SRH began to dominate the run-chase.

Even after his milestone, Williamson continued in the same flow and eventually took the ‘Men in Orange’ home with seven balls to spare. He finished with 80 in 53 balls (seven fours and two sixes).

#3 Miss: Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar did really well in the powerplay but was taken for plenty of runs in this game

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been one of India’s premier pacers in white-ball cricket. He is the leader of SRH’s attack over the last few years and has been exceptional (has won the Purple Cap in 2016 and 2017).

And he has been in good form in this IPL. Bhuvi was magnificent in the last game where he was superb at the death and helped SRH defend 25 runs in the last three overs.

However, in this game, the 28-year-old pacer went the distance as he was at the receiving end of Rishabh Pant’s brutal onslaught.

Kumar started well and bowled two overs in the powerplay conceding just seven runs. But he was hit for 44 runs in his last two overs as Pant was striking the ball beautifully.

In the 18th over of the innings, Bhuvi conceded 18 runs and then he was taken for 26 runs in his last over (20th over of the innings) as he was dominated by the 20-year-old Delhi wicket-keeper. He finished with his second-worst IPL figures (1/51).

#2 Hit: Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan struck an unbeaten 92 and took SRH home

Dhawan started off this season very well and in the absence of David Warner, it looked like he was going to shoulder the responsibility at the top of the order. However, it was not to be as he got just one 30+ score in his last seven innings.

But in this game, he was brilliant as he helped SRH chased down a big score of 188. After losing Hales early, Dhawan took responsibility of batting deep.

He started off sedately but he got going in the last over of the powerplay as he struck a four and a six off Trent Boult to inject momentum in the chase.

And from then on, the 32-year-old Indian opener completely dominated the Delhi attack. He raised his fifty off 30 deliveries and then batted through and struck a magnificent 92 off 50 balls.

He hit nine fours and four sixes as he took SRH home with ease. It was a much-needed knock for Dhawan and SRH as his form was a concern for the Hyderabad franchise. His knock of 92 earned him the Man of the Match as well.

#1 Hit: Rishabh Pant

It was some unbelievable hitting from Rishabh Pant

Along with Iyer, Pant has carried the DD batting line-up in this season. And in this game, he single-handedly took the game away from SRH.

Against the best bowling attack of the season and on what seemed like a slow pitch, Pant scored a scintillating 128 to decimate the table toppers.

The Delhi wicket-keeper batsman came into bat after DD had lost both their openers in two balls.

He got going as he hit three consecutive fours off Siddarth Kaul. But the run out of Iyer slowed him down as he knew he had to bat long. After a fast start, he reached 30 in 26 balls and at that stage, DD were 66/3 in 11 overs.

But that was the moment when Pant decided to shift gears and change the momentum of the game. He went after every SRH bowler and was finding the boundary with ease. He played Rashid Khan beautifully as he not only saw him off but scored runs as well.

And at the death, when Bhuvi came onto bowl in the 18th over, he was treated with disdain. Pant smashed India’s premier pacer to all parts of the Feroz Shah Kotla.

While the 18th over went for 18 runs as Pant hit a couple of fours and a six, the 20th over went for 26 as the Delhi batsman smashed two fours and three sixes.

Pant put an exhibition as he treated the crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla with some unbelievable shots as he struck his maiden IPL hundred.

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