Delhi Capitals (DC) entered its maiden IPL final with a 17-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Delhi will face Mumbai Indians in the summit clash in Dubai today.
Chasing 190, Kane Williamson’s genius was on full display (67, 45b, 5x4, 4x6) before young Abdul Samad (33, 16b, 2x4, 2x6) brought the equation down to 23 runs off 10 balls.
But Kagiso Rabada dismissed Samad, Rashid Khan, and Shreevats Goswami in the penultimate over to usher the end.
It was a day on which every strategic punt by Shreyas Iyer and Ricky Ponting paid off; be it bringing in Shimron Hetmyer for Prithvi Shaw or promoting Marcus Stoinis - a bright spot from the defeat to Mumbai Indians - as an opener or bowling the Aussie in the powerplay.
Stoinis (38, 27b, 5x4, 1x6) and Hetmyer (42 n.o., 22b, 4x4, 1x6) ensured Shikhar Dhawan’s fourth fifty (78, 50b, 6x4, 2x6) of the season wouldn’t go to waste.
Then Stoinis, bowling the fifth over, dismissed both Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey to reduce SRH to 44 for three after Rabada had bowled batting powerhouse David Warner off the pads for just two.
It brought Williamson and Jason Holder together and the former was at his delightful best, hitting a six each off Pravin Dubey, Rabada, Axar Patel, and Stoinis.
But Jason Holder’s dismissal ended the 46-run fourth-wicket stand, leaving Williamson with a lot to do.
With 77 needed off 36 balls, Abdul Samad caned Anrich Nortje for six and two fours. But Stoinis’ dismissal of Williamson in the 17th over proved fatal for SRH.
Earlier, DC spent the first two overs of its batting sizing up the conditions, scoring just 11 runs. In the third, Stoinis, on three, was dropped by Holder at short mid-on off Sandeep Sharma.
It seemed to liberate Stoinis, as he hit Sandeep for two fours before smashing Holder for 18 runs, including a six over mid-wicket and a flat-batted whack straight down. By five overs, DC had racked up 50 runs.
Williamson and Warner went into a huddle and decided to bring Shahbaz Nadeem on. But the left-arm spinner’s first delivery was sent soaring over mid-wicket by Dhawan before a bad full toss was pulled past short fine-leg.
The introduction of Rashid and T. Natarajan slowed things down, with the former even cleaning up Stoinis with a straighter one. Dhawan, though, eased to his half-century with a slog-swept six off Nadeem.
Shreyas laboured for a 20-ball 21, but after playing out Rashid, DC seemed primed for a big score from 145 for two after 16 overs.
Hetmyer didn’t disappoint, even hitting Holder for four fours in a single over. Natarajan bowled a superb 20th over (seven runs) but it was not to be.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals: 189/3 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 78, Shimron Hetmyer 42 n.o, Rashid Khan 1/26)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 172/8 in 20 overs (Kane Williamson 67, Kagiso Rabada 4/29, Marcus Stoinis 3/26).
