Daredevils upset Sunrisers to end losing streak

Delhi Daredevils bounced back from falling to their lowest IPL total in their previous game by dominating the chase in a six-wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Daredevils' stand-in captain, Karun Nair, had put Sunrisers in hoping the pitch would stay true through the game. The visitors responded by scoring 66 in the Powerplay. Daredevils fought back in the middle overs, removing Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson in quick succession after strangling them with spin, but lapses in the field allowed Sunrisers a way back in. Yuvraj Singh made use of a dropped catch and dominated an unbroken 93-run stand for the fourth wicket with Moises Henriques that lifted Sunrisers to 185 for 3.

Daredevils began briskly in the chase, with Sanju Samson's 19-ball 24 and Nair's 20-ball 39 setting the pace. The momentum was picked up by the rest of the top order before allrounders Corey Anderson and Chris Morris put on 41 off 19 balls to take Daredevils past the target with five balls to spare.

Jayant Yadav and the opening stand
Against a top four that had three left-hand batsmen, Daredevils picked the offspinner Jayant Yadav. In fact, his only game this season was the away fixture against Sunrisers on April 19, when he had opened the bowling.

Jayant did it in Delhi as well and seemed to have David Warner lbw first ball. Warner, who had struck a thunderous 126 against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, went for the sweep against an overpitched delivery drifting into him. HawkEye showed his survival was marginal.

That was the only sign of the offspin punt working against the openers. Warner and Shikhar Dhawan played Jayant out respectfully - apart from a Warner switch-hit over the backward point boundary.

Against Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris, they were more fluid, hitting five fours and a six before Warner welcomed Mohammed Shami with a boundary to start of the sixth over. That whip over midwicket brought up the fifth opening stand of fifty or more for Sunrisers this season. It ended next ball, however, with Shami sliding a steaming yorker under Warner's drive to take his off stump.

Kotla slows down
Sunrisers were 66 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay. Kane Williamson played four dot ball in the next over against Morris, two of which were slower deliveries. It was a precursor to the home team's plan for the middle overs. Jayant and Amit Mishra bowled four overs in tandem, which set the tone for Daredevils' most fruitful phase in the field. Mishra depended heavily on his new-found offbreak against the left-handers, but it was his googly that met the top edge of Dhawan's attempted sweep.

Jayant had cramped Williamson to the extent that the Sunrisers No. 3, aside from a six off a quicker delivery, had only managed three singles off seven deliveries. When Shami came back in the 12th over, his dot-ball ratio had climbed to 50%. That induced a skied hook straight to deep square leg. The six overs after the Powerplay fetched Sunrisers only 27 runs for the loss of two wickets.

Yuvraj cashes in
Daredevils gave away extra runs on at least four occasions. The most painful one was when Samson dropped Yuvraj, who had 24 runs in his last four innings, at deep square leg. Samson, who had been involved in that infamous mix-up with Mishra against KKR last week, wasn't under any such pressure this time - the nearest fielder was yards to his left.

However different the two missed chances were, the outcomes were similar. Robin Uthappa had piled on the misery that day and Yuvraj, on 29 off 26 at that point, made 41 off his next 15. His unbeaten 70 took Sunrisers to 185 for 3.

Bhuvi returns the favour, Nair finds his mojo
Another man who had not found runs was Karun Nair. He opened the chase and utilised the Powerplay to hit himself into form. Like Yuvraj, Nair was helped by ordinary fielding. On 20, he toe-ended a scoop to short fine leg, where Bhuvneshwar Kumar was late in getting his hands up to take the catch. Nair made 15 off his next four balls, primarily through shots on the up or ramps behind the wicket while the ball still came on.

His knock took Daredevils to 62 in the Powerplay. Shortly after, Nair offered another catch to Bhuvneshwar, who caught the full-blooded drive at long-off. The momentum had been conceded though.

Finish it with power
Daredevils had two spinners to tie Sunrisers down on a slow track; Sunrisers had dropped their second spinner, Bipul Sharma, for Deepak Hooda who didn't end up batting. This proved to be the difference as Daredevils' young top order scored 36 off Moises Henriques' 2.1 overs.

The promotion of Rishabh Pant to No. 3 also played a part. Warner was reluctant to expose his only other spinner, Yuvraj, against Pant but Yuvraj went for 16 in his only over, bowled after Pant had been dismissed. It allowed Daredevils the luxury of playing legspinner Rashid Khan out at a run a ball without losing a wicket to him. It was only Rashid's second wicketless game - the previous one also against Daredevils.

One might have expected to see Angelo Mathews at No. 5, or even No. 6, as Daredevils lost wickets close to the target. In the end, Anderson and Morris filled up those slots, a signal that Daredevils didn't just want to win, but wanted to do it comprehensively.