Sunrisers hold nerve to move fourth

A blitzy half-century from Kedar Jadhav, only his second in the IPL, brought the required run-rate for Delhi Daredevils from almost 12 with eight overs remaining down to less than eight in the last three overs, but the hosts ran out of steam on the last stretch.

Ishant Sharma bowled his last two overs for just 16 runs, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar served up a mix of yorkers and low full-tosses to give away six in the penultimate over, the two helping Sunrisers Hyderabad to hold on to a narrow six-run win that propped them up to number four in the points table. The result also meant Daredevils became the second team after Kings XI Punjab to fall out of the race of making it to playoffs.

Jadhav hit seven fours and two sixes in the four-over period after 13, reached his fifty off 24 balls, but after edging the first ball off the 18th over to the boundary, he couldn't get the groove. When a six was needed off the last ball to tie the game, he could merely drill it back to Ishant, the bowler, to Sunrisers' delight.

The curve Jadhav's innings followed sloped the other way in comparison to Moises Henriques' unbeaten 74, that had injected life into Sunrisers innings in the second half and helped it grow to 163, a total that was going to be testing on a sticky, bouncy pitch and the refreshingly large outfield in Raipur.

Unlike Jadhav, Henriques had started slow. He was in early, in the fourth over, struggled for timing in the initial half of his innings, and was 10 off 16 deliveries at the end of 11 overs. By that time, Sunrisers had lost all three of their half-centurions this season and the innings was hobbling at less than six an over. Then, with a slog off Amit Mishra in the 12th over landing over the boundary at midwicket, the timing appeared.

Still, Henriques waited for the start of the last five overs before going all-out attack. He smashed a long-hop from Mishra into the stands, then took a treble of couples in the same over to kick-start Sunrisers' surge. He continued running hard and brought up his maiden IPL half-century off 39 balls in the 18th over. Three more sixes from Henriques in the last two overs helped Sunrisers to ratchet up 64 off the last five overs, with Henriques scoring 46.

Daredevils' chase started in sprightly manner, with Quinton de Kock, playing for the first time this season, sprinting to a half-century off 29 balls by the eighth over. But Karn Sharma struck twice in two overs, getting de Kock out stumped and beating JP Duminy's cut to have him out bowled. In between, Yuvraj Singh disappeared in a painfully familiar, yet now almost expected, manner.

Jadhav and Saurabh Tiwary played their respective best innings this season, adding an unbeaten 91 for the fifth wicket, but it all came too late for Daredevils.