Rain knocks SRH out and hands DC a reprieve

Match abandoned Delhi Capitals 133 for 7 (Stubbs 41*, Ashutosh 41, Cummins 3-19) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

Rain put an official end to Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) IPL 2025 playoffs hopes and gave Delhi Capitals (DC) what could be a valuable point in their bid to finish in the top four. It certainly looked like a point gained for DC rather than one lost, after Pat Cummins took three new-ball wickets to put SRH in the driver's seat at the innings break.

Rain arrived soon after DC, sent in to bat, finished their innings at 133 for 7. By the time the weather cleared, the outfield was too sodden for the ground staff to clear by 11.42pm, the official cut-off time for a five-over chase.

A grass-free surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium proved to be a tricky one, offering enough grip for balls banged into a hard length to misbehave, and Cummins is a master of banging the ball into a hard length.

The SRH captain took the new ball himself with Mohammed Shami left out, and struck first ball, getting it to straighten and find Karun Nair's edge. It was a sign of things to come, with the ball frequently stopping on the batter or - particularly if delivered with a wobbly seam - deviating sideways, usually just enough to find the edge.

By the time he had bowled 19 balls, Cummins had taken three wickets and Ishan Kishan - keeping for the first time this season, relieving Heinrich Klaasen of the gloves - three catches.

With Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat also getting into the wickets column, DC were gasping at 29 for 5 in the eighth over. The fullish ball Unadkat bowled to dismiss KL Rahul, from left-arm around, summed up the conditions - on nine out of ten IPL pitches, Rahul would have probably middled the drive he attempted; this was the tenth pitch, and the ball straightened to kiss his edge and make Kishan the first keeper to catch out an entire top four in an IPL innings.

Tristan Stubbs anchored DC's recovery from that point, putting on 33 with Vipraj Nigam for the sixth wicket - Nigam sacrificed his wicket following a mix-up that left both batters at the same end - and 66 with Ashutosh Sharma for the seventh.

As they have done in other recent games, DC named a bowler-heavy starting XI despite batting first, and brought Ashutosh off the Impact Player bench when the need arose. And Ashutosh was primarily responsible for a late flourish that brought DC 61 runs off their last six overs, hitting three sixes in a 26-ball 41. Stubbs finished unbeaten on 41 off 36 balls.

Rain began soon after DC's innings ended, leaving SRH waiting to begin a chase that eventually never took place.

With three games left to play, SRH can finish the league stage with a maximum of 13 points. Four teams already have 14 or more points. DC, with 13 from 11 games, sit just outside that group.