IPL 2020: Twitter erupts as Kane Williamson's return leads SRH to facile win over previously unbeaten DC

The Sunrisers Hyderabad picked up their first points in IPL 2020 with a 15-run win against the Delhi Capitals in match 11 of the competition at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Rashid Khan was the star with the ball for SRH as he finished with figures of 3/14 from his four overs. The Afghanistan star snaffled the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, breaking the backbone of the DC batting unit.

Set a target of 163 to get in 20 overs, DC lost opener Prithvi Shaw on the 5th ball of the first over, handing SRH some early momentum. And, despite starts for all the middle-order batsmen, none of them managed to carry on till the end. Rashid's timely wickets and some terrific death bowling from T Natarajan restricted DC to just 147/7 from their allotted overs, handing SRH a much-needed 15-run win.

Earlier, DC captain Shreyas Iyer's decision to ask SRH to bat on winning the toss initially worked well for his side, with the Hyderabad openers putting on just 38 at the end of the six-over powerplay.

Veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra's introduction in the 9th over saw him get hammered for 14 runs off his first over. Still, the leggie struck a double blow soon enough to remove David Warner and Manish Pandey (3) in consecutive overs.

The foreign import duo of Kane Williamson - who replaced Mohammed Nabi - and Jonny Bairstow then went about milking singles and doubles, taking SRH's score to 117/2 after 15 overs. Two boundaries each off Rabada and Marcus Stoinis' overs from Williamson fetched some much-needed momentum for SRH, before Rabada sent Bairstow back in the 18th over.

The hype around Abdul Samad's talent as a finisher came to the fore, with the youngster collecting one four and a gigantic six off Nortje's last two deliveries in the penultimate over. However, in the end, Rabada gave away just four runs off the 20th over, helping restrict SRH to 162/4.

Who is leading the IPL 2020 purple cap race? Click here to see.

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I think from now on I will only start watching IPL from the 15th over of the 2nd innings, whatever happens before this is anyway irrelevant. #SRHvDC

— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) September 29, 2020

Shot selection. Pant. Shot Selection will define your legacy.

— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) September 29, 2020

This is what you want from your international star. Brilliant from @rashidkhan_19. Everytime he came on, he created an opportunity for his team

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 29, 2020

The way DC has played Rashid here, you’d think they were facing CSK at Chepauk

— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) September 29, 2020

Kane Williamson has increased SRH's wins, the NRR and Fairplay Award points in one game. #SRHvDC

— Manya (@CSKian716) September 29, 2020

CSK at the bottom of points table 😭 pic.twitter.com/8m9mKKSSez

— Sagar (@sagarcasm) September 29, 2020

So... boring matches are also possible in IPL 2020 afterall. #SRHvDC

— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) September 29, 2020

Good game. SPICE too HOT for the Capital #IPL2020 #SRHvDC

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) September 29, 2020