The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 has been churning out some great games of cricket in the last few days. When the Delhi Capitals (DC) met the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the platform was set for yet another nail-biting finish. However, things turned out to be slightly different this time around with the SRH bowlers pulling off a clinical show towards the end. Thus, the Sunrisers managed to register their first win of this tournament while they were also the last team to get off the mark.

Batting first in this encounter, the duo of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow set the tone for the ‘Men in Orange’ with a 77-run partnership. While the skipper scored 45 runs, the Englishman was slightly slow and got 53 off 48 balls. Kane Williamson, playing his first game of the season, then took over. The Kiwi skipper seemed to be fabulous touch and raced his way to 41 runs from 26 balls. Debutant Abdul Samad also chipped in towards the end with a four and a six.

SRH’s Rashid Khan steps up with the ball, spins a web around the Capitals
Chasing 163 runs, DC lost the wicket of Prithvi Shaw early. Since then, they never managed to get any sustainable partnerships. The moment it seemed as if they were steadying the ship, they lost a wicket. Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers picking up the big wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. Unlike many other teams, the Capitals tried to take the attack on to the Afghan leggie. But they failed to realize that Rashid is often at his best when the opposition is trying to attack him. The other bowlers also chipped in with some crucial wickets and were brilliant in the last few overs. Thus, SRH managed to win the game by 15 runs.

Shreyas Iyer, the DC captain, said
We were pretty much happy with 162, it was a par score on this wicket. We had no idea how this wicket would behave as this is our first game here. They outplayed us in all three departments and credit to them for that. It was surprising and in the second innings, it (pitch) was two-paced. When I went in, the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat. We thought dew would come on but we can’t give any reasons at this moment. We didn’t execute the way we wanted to.

Lot of learnings from this wicket and conditions. Ricky went in (during the time-out) and we needed one batsman to take a chance as the required rate was pretty high. The ground is very big and we didn’t capitalize on taking doubles. We knew boundaries are big here and doubles will be key for us, It didn’t work out for us, hopefully next time we can maximize the opportunities.

David Warner, the SRH captain, said
We lost the toss tonight and won the game, so feels good. Unfortunately, Mitch Marsh was injured and we had to figure out how to get the overs in, but young Abhishek Sharma came in. We have been working really hard in our training with the death bowling, and today they were fantastic because they can be called up at any stage. We need a bit of luck with the bat, around ten of them found the fielders. But in this heat, running does take a toll. I did hit some good shots, and I told the analyst that it only found the fielders.

Rashid Khan, the Man of the Match, said
I don’t put pressure on myself, I just keep myself calm and composed and focus on what I can do. I just go out there and do the basics right, I bowled quicker today, when I started and bowled my first ball, I realized it. You need two-three balls to know what the right pace is. In these conditions, you need to bowl back of a length to the batsmen.

Warner always backs me and tells me that you know what’s best for the team. That’s what we discuss on the field. Tough one and a half years for me, first my dad expired and it took a bit of time for me to come back. My mom was my biggest fan, especially in the IPL and when I was the man of the match, she would always talk to me through the night.