IPL 2018, SRH vs DD: Yusuf Pathan being dropped on 0 is SK Turning Point of the match
The IPL double-header on Saturday (May 5) saw two top four teams clinch victories to secure their place in the first two spots of the points table. Chennai Super Kings took down the Royal Challengers Bangalore to lead the table after the first game, only to be dethroned by Sunrisers Hyderabad four hours later.
The Kane Williamson-led side pulled off a 7-wicket win over the Delhi Daredevils at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and looking at the strong bowling line-up of the hosts, decided to bat first on the day.
The visitors put up an above par total of 163/5 after 20 overs, which was a tough ask for the SRH batting order, considering they had not been truly put under the hammer in terms of chasing up until that point in the tournament.
As expected, the home side need not reach the total without any hiccups. They were batting at 132-3 after 17.1 overs and required 32 runs off 17 deliveries to win the game. Yusuf Pathan had just replaced Manish Pandey in the middle, where his captain was anchoring the innings as usual.
DD had a real chance to take two wickets in the same over and that too, off the very first delivery Pathan faced in the innings. However, the big right-hander was dropped by Vijay Shankar at deep backward square-leg, and it was a miss that proved to be the SK Turning Point of the match.
It was Pathan who accelerated the scoring in the last two overs of the game, taking the attack to the opposition by putting his foot on the pedal. He belted Trent Boult for a six and a four in the penultimate over of the game and brought his side closer to the finish line with his perilous stroke-making.
Not only did he bludgeon the seam from Boult, but also from Dan Christian, who was spanked by Pathan for twelve runs within the first three deliveries of the last over. It was all over for the visitors then, as they had just 14 runs to play with, in the final over.
It proved to be a riveting victory for the Men in Orange, who now have seven victories in just nine games and are sitting pretty at the top of the table, having played one game less than the second-placed CSK.
DD, on the other hand, look set for a disappointing campaign in yet another season of the Indian Premier League. They have just three wins in ten games and are at the seventh position in the points table, with just six points against their name.
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