Abu Dhabi: A spirited team performance by Delhi Capitals enabled handed them their first-ever final spot in the Indian Premier League after defeating SunRisers by 17-run in Qualifier 2 here at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.
With this win, Delhi will now face Mumbai Indians in the summit clash on Tuesday, November 10.
Chasing a gigantic target of 190, SRH had a poor start as they lost skipper David Warner (2) in the second over.
Manish Pandey joined Priam Garg in the middle and added a 31-run stand for the second wicket. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis gave a double blow to SRH as he bagged Pandey (21) and Garg (17) in the fifth over.
Kane Williamson and Jason Holder then stitched a 46-run partnership before the latter was scalped by Axar Patel in the 12th over.
Abdul Samad came in to bat number six and joined Williamson in the middle. The duo played fiercely and hammered Delhi bowlers all around the ground. The pair added a 57-run quick stand for the fifth wicket. Meanwhile, the Kiwi skipper completed his fifty off 28 balls.
Stoinis with the golden-arm again provided the crucial wicket of Williamson and brought his side back into the match. Williamson played a 67-run knock off 45 balls including four sixes and five fours.
Rashid Khan and Samad then added a brief 20-run stand before both the players were sent back to the pavilion on 33 and 11 runs respectively by speedster Kagiso Rabada in the penultimate over.
Rabada scalped three wickets in his last over and almost confirmed the team’s spot in the final. Delhi restricted SRH to 172/8 in their 20 overs.
For Delhi, Stoinis returned with the figures of 3-26 in his three overs while Rabada clinched four scalps.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan and Shimron Hetmyer played knocks of 78 and 42 respectively as Delhi Capitals posted a total of 189/3 in the allotted twenty overs.
Opting to bat first, Delhi Capitals got off to an amazing start in the first six overs as openers Marcus Stoinis and Shikhar Dhawan put on 65 runs. Both batsmen eventually put an opening stand of 86 runs and it was Rashid Khan who finally provided SunRisers with a breakthrough as he dismissed Stoinis (38) in the ninth over.
Shreyas Iyer then walked out to the crease and he along with Dhawan put on 40 runs for the second wicket. However, the run rate dropped considerably during this partnership and in trying to accelerate the innings, Iyer (21) ended up losing his wicket to Jason Holder in the 14th over, reducing Delhi Capitals to 126/2.
In the final four overs, Delhi Capitals managed to add 44 more runs to their total and as a result, the side posted a score of more than the 180-run mark. For Delhi, Shikhar Dhawan was the top-scorer as he played a knock of 78 runs, while Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 42.
For SRH, Jason Holder, Sandeep Sharma, and Rashid Khan took one wicket each.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals 189/3 (Shikhar Dhawan 78, Shimron Hetmyer 42*, Rashid Khan 1-26) beat SunRisers Hyderabad 172/8 (Kane Williamson 67, Abdul Samad 33, Kagiso Rabada 4-29) by 17 runs.