On the back of Abhishek Sharma’s scintillating century, the Sunrisers Hyderabad made light work of the Delhi Capitals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Tuesday, April 21.
The visitors won the toss and opted to field first on a belter of a track. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma got the hosts off to a scintillating start. They added 97 runs inside nine overs with some brilliant partnership batting.
After Head was dismissed, Ishan Kishan joined forces with Abhishek, and the carnage continued. The latter was at his fluent best, making the strong Delhi bowling attack look pedestrian. Axar Patel tried to stop the runs by giving part-time off-spinner Nitish Rana four overs against the left-hander-heavy SRH top order. However, the move flopped big time as Rana conceded 55 runs in four overs.
After Kishan was dismissed for 25 off 13 balls, Heinrich Klaasen continued his purple patch, slamming 37* in just 13 deliveries. However, the star of the show was Abhishek, who notched up his century in a stunning display of batting. He was dropped on 86 by Rana, but take nothing away from his magnificence on the night. Abhishek finished unbeaten on 135 off 68 balls, hitting 10 fours and as many sixes.
In reply, the Delhi Capitals lost the wicket of Pathum Nissanka early. However, KL Rahul and Nitish Rana batted with intent to forge an 86-run partnership in 45 balls. Sakib Hussain broke the partnership in the 10th over, and in the following one, Eshan Malinga sent Nitish Rana and David Miller back to the hut in back-to-back deliveries.
Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs tried to take Delhi closer to the target, but the writing was already on the wall. Malinga returned to take the wickets of Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma in the death overs. Rizvi scored a valiant 41 off 28 balls, but it wasn’t going to be enough to take the Capitals to victory. Rana top-scored for the away team with a 30-ball 57, but they could only manage 195/9 in their 20 overs. The Orange Army registered a 47-run win to move to No. 4 on the points table.
Talking Points
1. Abhishek Sharma scores 2nd IPL century, SRH pay for Nitish Rana’s costly miss
Abhishek Sharma is well and truly back to his best. It seems as if he understands his game better than ever before. The clarity in shot selection is back as well. On Tuesday, the Amritsar-born slammed 135 not out off 68 balls, hitting 10 fours and as many sixes. He brought up his second IPL century and also registered the fifth-highest individual score in the tournament’s history. Abhishek was dropped on 86 by Nitish Rana and he made Delhi pay for the fielding lapse.
2. End of the road for Pathum Nissanka?
Pathum Nissanka started the season well with some aggressive knocks at the top of the order. However, he has now registered three single-digit scores in six matches. The Sri Lankan batter was dismissed by fellow Sri Lankan Dilshan Madushanka, hitting a ball straight to mid-on inside the power play. The Capitals can go to either Prithvi Shaw or Abishek Porel in place of Nissanka and bring in an overseas pacer in either Dushmantha Chameera or Kyle Jamieson.
3. Eshan Malinga breathes fire in batting paradise
Eshan Malinga has bowled remarkably, especially in the last two matches. He was the Player of the Match against the Chennai Super Kings last week, and on Tuesday, he bagged the wickets of Nitish Rana and David Miller off consecutive deliveries before returning at the back end to dismiss Tristan Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma. In his four-over spell, the Sri Lankan seamer finished with figures of 4/32.
SRH vs DC: Who Said What?
Axar Patel, DC captain
The run-out and the catch we missed – had we taken it, we could have restricted them (on the chances missed against Abhishek Sharma). But yes, if someone bats that well, and their execution is not lacking, credit must be given for such a performance. Considering the way Klaasen also batted from the other side, it’s not the bowler’s fault. When a batsman bats like this, the coach and the captain must accept that even a captain cannot stop someone. I was telling the bowlers the same thing, that if you executed well, and after that he still hit a good shot, then you cannot do anything. You know, you have to move on. The fielding area is in your hands. Catching and run-outs – those you can do. And you know, at such times, supporting the bowler is very important. So I think that is where we could have done better. (On possible changes going further) No, right now it doesn’t feel like that, because the kind of cricket that is going on – if you see, obviously we are batting well and bowling well. It feels like, I think you know, when the wicket is so good, then this should be considered an off day and forgotten.
Ishan Kishan, SRH captain
What do I say right now, looking at how Abhishek batted throughout the innings and Klassen finishing it off, you don’t have much to say when you have 200-plus runs on scoreboard on this kind of wicket where the ball is going to get old. It’s not easy to hit for new batsmen when he comes in. But still, a lot of credit, I mean, all the credit goes to Abhishek, I feel. (What is that discussion?) The discussion is just make sure we take match by match, one day at a time, and everyone likes to hit in our team. So, we just have to give ourselves 2-3 balls to understand how the wicket is going to play, what kind of bounce there’s going to be, and we just play our game. We don’t think so much. We don’t have a plan behind it, but we just look to watch the ball and play our game. (What was the plan behind holding Harsh back?) I think I just wanted the ratio of balls and runs to get as far as possible, when the batter is trying to just hit hard, it’s not easy on these kind of wickets. And I know Harsh Dubey, whenever I get him, he’s capable of bowling those good balls. He’s a very smart bowler. And I just spoke to him and I said you will be bowling the most crucial overs. But the plan was to get your best bowlers when needed, when the two best batters of the team are batting. And I think that worked pretty well for us. (Are you a very vocal captain in that change room?) Not so much, I just say enjoy.
Abhishek Sharma, Player of the Match
The way we started we had a plan, me and Heady wanted to make use of the powerplay. But the wicket was slow, so we had to adjust and come up with different plans. We don’t know the par score till both innings have batted. Special mention to the team coaches and captains, when they give you the freedom to go and express yourself. You have to have the backing of the captain and the coach. The management we had in 2024 was a game-changer. I always wanted to play like this, I play like this for Punjab and Punjabi players like to play freely. I have been doing the L celebration for quite long, it is for the love for the stadium. The other thing is my parents are here and it is special. To be very honest, from my U12 days, my dad is sitting and telling how to play. It is actually incredible how he’s always looking at me and I am looking at him, and he gives me the instructions.
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