IPL 2018, SRH vs DD: Hits and Misses

In the 36th game of this season, Delhi Daredevils skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first. Glenn Maxwell was DD’s new opener after Colin Munro was left out. But that move didn’t work as the Australian all-rounder was runout as he was backing up too far.

But Prithvi Shaw came out all guns blazing and scored a superb 36-ball 65 before getting out trying to slog against Rashid Khan. The 18-year-old’s wicket proved to be the momentum changer as DD went from 95/1 in 10 overs to 163/5 in their 20 overs.

Shreyas Iyer was once again impressive with the bat as he hit a very good 44. Vijay Shankar finished well with a 13-ball 23 and took DD over the 160-run mark.

In reply, SRH got off to an excellent start as the opening duo of Dhawan and Hales added 76 in about 9 overs. Hales was out for 45 while Dhawan made 33 but the hosts slowed down after the dismissals of Dhawan and Hales.

However, an ice-cool knock from Kane Williamson and a blistering cameo from Yusuf Pathan took the hosts to their seventh win of the tournament. DD dropped two chances as Alex Hales and Yusuf Pathan were the batsmen let off and it cost DD dearly as they slumped to the seventh loss in this IPL.

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#5 Hit: Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw continued his impressive form and top-scored for DD.

Prithvi Shaw has been one of the most impressive batsmen in this IPL. Right from his debut game, his strokeplay has been very attractive and he has also done well in the few games he’s played. Before this game, he’s had scores of 22, 62, 9 and 47.

In this game, he once again impressed with an excellent 65. He had a new opening partner Glenn Maxwell for this game as DD decided to leave Colin Munro out. However, Maxwell was runout in an unlucky fashion as he was backing up too far. But that didn’t deter young Prithvi Shaw. He got going with a six as he slapped a length delivery from Sandeep Sharma over mid-on.

That was the start of a beautiful and elegant innings. The 18-year-old Mumbaikar got at least one boundary in every over of the powerplay (barring the first one) and in the 6th over, he struck one six and three fours to give the DD innings some impetus going into the middle-overs. He raised his half-century in just 25 balls and eventually ended up with 65 in 36 balls.

In his 36-ball knock, the youngster played some wonderful strokes which included 6 fours and 3 sixes. Shaw’s second half-century of this IPL gave DD an excellent start.

#4 Miss: Avesh Khan

It was a disappointing performance from Avesh Khan.

Avesh Khan burst onto the scene in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup because of his ability to bowl quick. He played just one game for RCB last year and was picked up by DD for Rs 70 lakh in the auction this year.

After sitting out for the first couple of weeks, Avesh Khan got his opportunity against Kings XI Punjab and impressed everybody. In this game, the 21-year-old pacer shared the new ball with Trent Boult and conceded two fours in his first over.

But it was his second over that was the most expensive of the game. He started his second over with a no-ball and the free-hit was dispatched for six by Shikhar Dhawan.

And then Alex Hales smashed the young pacer for 3 more sixes to fetch 27 runs off the last over of the powerplay. He then conceded 10 runs in his third over and finished the game with figures of 0/47 in his 3 overs and had an off day.

#3 Hit: Alex Hales

Alex Hales was very good at the top of the order and set up the chase for SRH.

With the way SRH were struggling with the bat, there were numerous calls for Alex Hales to be drafted into the XI. Hence, after sitting out in the first few games, Hales announced himself with a fluent 45 against Rajasthan Royals. He was filling in the shoes for David Warner which was never going to be easy.

In this game, Hales gave SRH a very good start once again. He scored a 31-ball 45 in this game which gave SRH the perfect platform in the chase of 164.

Hales got off the mark with a push–drive to mid-off. He was quite severe on Avesh Khan as the 21-year-old pacer was predictable. First, Hales hit him for 10 runs in his first over and then in last over of the powerplay (Avesh Khan’s second), Hales hit Avesh Khan for 3 sixes and helped SRH fetch 61 in the powerplay.

However, the England opener was dismissed by an absolute peach from Amit Mishra. But he had done the job with 31-ball 45 (which included 3 fours and 3 sixes).

#2 Miss: Daniel Christian

Daniel Christian's execution with both bat and ball was not up to the mark

Daniel Christian hasn’t got consecutive games in this IPL and it was two weeks since he last played a game (he played last against KXIP on April 23). The 35-year-old all-rounder was drafted in place of Colin Munro.

He came into bat at No. 7 with the score reading 134/5 and DD would’ve hoped that Christian would provide the big finish. However, it didn’t happen as the Aussie all-rounder struggled and scored a starchy 9-ball 7 and also couldn’t score a single boundary.

With the ball, Christian started well as he gave away just 10 runs in his first two overs. But he conceded 13 runs in his third over (15th over of the innings) which released the pressure that was built in the previous few overs.

And then he was entrusted with the responsibility of bowling the final over. But with 14 runs in the bank, Christian failed to defend and was poor with his execution and hence, DD slumped to their 7th loss of the season.

#1 Hit: Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf Pathan made full use of his chance and scored a blistering unbeaten 27.

Yusuf Pathan’s place in the SRH side was questioned by a lot of people as they felt he was past his prime. He wasn’t bowling a lot and his batting was not like as it was a few years back. But SRH kept faith in the 35-year-old Baroda all-rounder.

The senior Pathan has been getting starts but in this game, he finished the game along with skipper Kane Williamson. Walking out to bat with SRH still needing 32 off 17 balls, Yusuf Pathan was dropped off the second delivery he faced as he tried to force a pull shot. But that was the luck the Baroda all-rounder needed as he took SRH home with a 12-ball cameo.

After the drop, Pathan struck one four and one six in the 19th and 20th over to seal the game for SRH. He struck a 12-ball 27 and took SRH to their seventh win which helped them go to the top of the points table.

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