DD vs SRH, IPL 2016 Results, Match Highlights & Updated Points Table

Karun Nair was the star of the show

It was the match number 52 of the IPL and Delhi Daredevils faced off against Sunrisers Hyderabad. DD were playing for the first time at Raipur this season, their second home ground after DD.  They had slipped down to number 6 on the points table due to a few ordinary games off late whereas SRH had been occupying the pole position for quite a while. DD had to win perhaps both their remaining games to qualify for the playoffs SRH were almost a certainty to finish amongst the top four.

In the earlier game this season when these two teams met, DD enforced a dominant victory over SRH. Their bowlers did a brilliant job to confine SRH to 146/8 in the first innings. Amit Mishra and Nathan Coulter-Nile bagged 2 wickets each. Then while chasing, the two youngsters Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant wove a wonderful partnership of 72 runs for the fourth wicket and drove the side home with 11 balls to spare.

Before the game, DD suffered a huge blow as their star performer Chris Morris injured himself and was declared unfit to take part in the contest. It meant that filling his void was a huge worry for DD at such a crunch stage where every single victory is like gold dust.

SRH also were injury-marred as Ashish Nehra who was injured in the last game was ruled out for the remaining matches in the league. DD needed the 2 points from this game more than SRH, but SRH would definitely leave any stone unturned as a win for them would certify a finish in the top two and would give them an extra chance to make it to the final.

Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to field

Playing XIs:

Delhi Daredevils:

Quinton de Kock(wk), Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Jean-Paul Duminy, Carlos Brathwaite, Pawan Negi, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Amit Mishra, Jayant Yadav, Zaheer Khan (c)

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Eoin Morgan, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha(wk), Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Mustafizur Rahman

A blazing beginning by SRH

Zaheer Khan bowled an amazing first over and gave away just 1 run. The leading run-scorer for SRH hit prime form yet again from the start. He took to Jayant Yadav in the second over and smashed back to back boundaries and did the same in the two overs that followed.

The score raced off to over 40 inside 5 overs. In the process, he completed 600 runs in the season and went past AB de Villiers to number two spot in the leading run scorer's list behind Virat Kohli. But off the last ball of the powerplay, Carlos Brathwaite ran Dhawan out with a brilliant direct hit off his own bowling and left SRH at 46/1 after 6 overs. Dhawan went back for 10 runs off 8 balls.

Warner held the innings together

There was another run out enforced by the bowler himself as Amit Mishra, this time, ran Deepak Hooda out at the non-striker’s end for just 1 run. Yuvraj Singh came in next but couldn’t spend much time at the crease. He was bowled by Brathwaite off an inside edge in the 10th over for 10 runs. Warner stood firm at one end and kept the innings moving. He brought up his fifty in the 12th over off 40 balls. Moises Henriques at the other end was still finding his feet as the score moved to 99/3 with 7 overs to play.

Restraint bowling kept SRH down to a mediocre 158

JP Duminy got a timely breakthrough when Henriques lifted him over the infield and straight to the hands of Pawan Negi at the mid-wicket boundary. He departed for 18 in the 14th over. Soon, the swashbuckling innings of Warner came to an end as he looked to score quick runs. He went back for 73 off 56 and Brathwaite got his second wicket.

As Eoin Morgan threatened to strike big at the end, he too failed to clear the big boundary of Raipur like the earlier two batters and held out for 14. Late cameos from Naman Ojha and Bhuvneshkumar Kumar aided SRH trickle past 150.

There were not too many big partnerships in the innings and Warner was the lone warrior. He scored 73 and the next best score was just 18 from Henriques. Brathwaite was brilliant with the ball and finished with a spell of 27/2 and totally filled in for the injured Morris. Zaheer was also economical and conceded just 26 runs in 4 overs. Coulter-Nile and Duminy picked up wicket apiece. The pitch was not easy to bat and with the kind of bowling SRH had, the chase was not going to be an easy one for DD.

Nervy start for DD

The first ball from Bhuvneshwar went horribly down the leg side for 5 wides. But after that, he hit right lines and lengths. Barinder Sran got the all important wicket of Quinton de Kock in the 2nd over for just 2. Four overs were in and DD had snoozed to 22/1. Karun Nair then went after Sran in the 4th over and hit him for 3 boundaries. Mustafizur bowled the last over of the powerplay for just 1 run. Rishabh Pant was yet to launch at the other end. DD reached 37/1 after 6 overs and the toughness of batting on the pitch was evident.

A solid partnership kept DD in the game

The youngsters Pant and Karun stitched together a good partnership in the middle overs. They kept manoeuvring the bowlers around for singles and hit the odd boundaries to keep the required run rate in check. The duo brought up their fifty partnership in the 9th over. Pant became the third batsman in the match to be run out in the match.

Bhuvneshwar’s brilliant throw from the mid-wicket boundary found Pant short of the crease who was coming back to the non-striker’s end to complete a couple. He went back for a well-made 32 off 26. Duminy then joined Karun in the middle as the equation read 67 runs needed off 42 balls.

Karun’s masterful innings handed DD vital 2 points

Karun reached his half-century in the 14th over.  Sran then bowled a cheap over to edge the required run rate over 10 with 5 overs to go.  Warner dropped an easy catch at long on to give a lifeline to Karun. Sran in his last over bagged the prized scalp of Duminy to make life difficult for DD. In the very same over, Karun slammed him for 2 sixes to ease things up a bit. The dangerous Brathwaite hit 2 fours of Bhuvneshwar’s 18th over and collected 12 runs of it.  Just 16 runs were required at that stage off the last 2 overs.

Mustafizur came back to bowl the penultimate over and turned the game in DD’s favour. He dismissed Brathwaite off the second ball courtesy a blinder of a catch by Sran. He gave away just 5 runs in the over and left 11 runs to be defended in the last over. Bhuvneshwar bowled superbly for the first 4 balls and conceded only 5 runs. When 6 runs were needed off 2 balls, Karun smashed 2 fours to clinch a last ball thriller.

The drop catch by Warner proved to be the turning point in the game. Karun made full use of that reprieve and finished unbeaten with 83 runs off 59 balls. He was excellent throughout the innings and absolutely owned the run chase. DD gained 2 crucial points to stay alive in the tournament. They moved to 14 points but stayed at number 6 position and SRH maintained their top slot despite the loss. 

Match Result:

SRH 158/7 (20 overs), Warner 73, Brathwaite 27/2, Duminy 9/1

DD 161/4 (20 overs), Karun 83, Pant 32, Sran 34/2

DD won by 6 wickets

MOM: Karun Nair

IPL 2016 Points Table and Standings

Position	Team	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Net RR	Points
1	SRH	13	8	5	0	0	+0.355	16
2	GL	13	8	5	0	0	-0.479	16
3	RCB	13	7	6	0	0	+0.930	14
4	KKR	13	7	6	0	0	+0.022	14
5	MI	13	7	6	0	0	-0.082	14
6	DD	13	7	6	0	0	-0.102	14
7	RPS	13	4	9	0	0	+0.013	8
8	KXIP	13	4	9	0	0	-0.693	8

IPL 2016 Schedule

Date	Time (BST/IST)	Fixture	Venue
May 21	4:00 PM	Rising Pune Supergiants v/s Kings XI Punjab	Visakhapatnam
May 21	8:00 PM	Gujarat Lions v/s Mumbai Indians	Kanpur
May 22	4:00 PM	Kolkat Knight Riders v/s Sunrisers Hyderabad	Kolkata
May 22	8:00 PM	Delhi Daredevils v/s Royal Challengers Bangalore	Raipur