New Delhi: It wasn’t a big over, the sort that produces 18, 20 may be even 24 runs. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 13th, bowled by Yuvraj Singh, provided a comparatively paltry 16, but 12 of those came from Shreyas Iyer’s sixes, and suddenly the Delhi Daredevils had wind in their sails.
It re-ignited a chase that had begun well but was in danger of losing its way somewhat. Iyer first went down the ground, big, and them over midwicket to show that Delhi were not done.
After that, the signs just got more and more ominous for Hyderabad and the hosts still had five balls in hand as they coasted past the finish line by six wickets.
Under fire — and the pressure of an early exit from IPL-10 — the Daredevils finally managed a first win in five games to keep their faint playoff hopes flickering.
Needing 186 thanks to a command performance from Yuvraj, Delhi hung tough. It was a quality badly missing especially from their batting these past few matches but between stand-in skipper Karun Nair (39) and young guns Sanju Samson (24), Rishab Pant (34) and Shreyas Iyer (33), the home side rediscovered some grit and its stomach for a fight.
In the end it was left to grizzled veterans Corey Anderson (41 not out, 24b, 2x4, 3x6) and Chris Morris (15 not out, 7b, 1x4, 1x6) to provide the finishing touches with a 41-run stand from 19 deliveries, leaving all and sundry to wonder why this balance of youth and experience could not have been arrived at earlier by the Daredevils’ think tank.
Earlier, Yuvraj and Moises Henriques ran riot in the closing overs to put a butter-fingered Delhi Daredevils under the hammer, carrying Sunrisers Hyderabad to a challenging 185/3.
Asked to bat first, Hyderabad lost wickets up front and would have been in deeper trouble had the Delhi fielders held on to the opportunities that came their way.
That however, did not happen, and Yuvraj made the most of a dropped catch at 29 to crank out his 29th IPL half-century with some effortless late hitting, putting on an unbeaten 93 runs for the fourth wicket with Henriques.
Yuvraj, who has had an off-on season so far, was circumspect early in his innings but once he had found his range, the Daredevils bowlers had nowhere to hide, particularly in the last six overs.
The big-hitting left-hander scored 70 not out from 41 deliveries that included 11 boundaries and a six while Henriques contributed 25 (18b, 2x4) as the Sunrisers overcame the dismissals of skipper David Warner (30), Shikhar Dhawan (28) and Kane Williamson (24) by the 12th over and double their total in the last eight overs.
Mohammad Shami was pacy and accurate, bowling Orange Cap holder Warner with a searing yorker, while leg-spinner Amit Mishra got the better of Dhawan with a googly that the batsman top-edged towards the square leg boundary.
Scorecard
Sunrisers Hyderabad: D. Warner b Mohammed Shami 30, S. Dhawan c Iyer b Mishra 28, K. Williamson c Morris b Mohammed Shami 24, Yuvraj Singh (not out) 70, MC Henriques (not out) 25. Extras: (lb5, w2, nb1) 8. Total: (for 3 wkts, in 20 overs) 185.
FoW: 1-53, 2-75, 3-92.
Bowling: Yadav 4-0-26-0, Rabada 4-0-59-0 (1nb), Morris 4-0-36-0, Shami 4-0-36-2 (1w), Mishra 4-0-23-1 (1w).
Delhi Daredevils: S. Samson c Dhawan b Siraj 24, K. Nair c Bhuvneshwar b Kaul 39, R. Pant b Siraj 34, S. Iyer c Siraj b Bhuvneshwar 33, C. Anderson (not out) 41, C. Morris (not out) 15. Extras: (lb 1, w 2) 3. Total: (for 4 wkts, in 19.1 overs) 189
FoW: 1-40, 2-72, 3-109, 4-148
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar 4-0-33-1, Siraj 4-0-41-2, Kaul 4-0-38-1 (1w), Henriques 2.1-0-36-0 (1w), Rashid 4-0-24-0, Yuvraj Singh 1-0-16-0
