#IPL8: #DDvSRH

Daredevils were high on confidence coming into this match as they ended loosing streak of 11 matches in their last match against Kings XI Punjab. While Sunrisers lost their last match against Rajasthan Royals. Duminy and Delhi Daredevils ended their loosing streak after a long long time so they were in no mood of giving it away. On the other hand Sunrisers wanted to be back on winning ways.

Delhi Daredevils won the toss and elected to bat first at Vizag. Daredevils played same side in this match. While Steyn was back in Sunrisers Hyderabad's playing eleven. He was back in place of Boult who was rested. Agarwal and Iyer began for Daredevils. Delhi has found good opening pair in form of Agarwal and Iyer. Both are young and give their 100% in every single game. Agarwal and Iyer had to play against the experience of Praveen Kumar and Steyn and considering that it was a good start from Daredevils as they scored 15 runs off first 2 overs. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was introduced by Warner in the 3rd over and straight away he picked up the wicket of Agarwal. Agarwal edged one straight into the hands of Dhawan at slip. Duminy came in next. Duminy at no. 3 was doing the job holding the innings together as a skipper. Here also along with Iyer he began to do that again. Daredevils were 28/1 after 5 overs. Iyer got his eye in by then so he took the responsibility of hitting big shots. In the 6th over he hit Praveen Kumar for a six and a four.

After Praveen Kumar it was turn of Karn Sharma whose turn was not good enough for Shreyas Iyer. In 8th over Iyer dispatched Sharma for a six. Sharma was expected to keep things tight but Iyer was hitting him for a maximum atleast once every over. Bopara was keeping the things tight for Sunrisers Hyderabad on the other end. After 10 overs Daredevils reached to the total of 80 at the loss of one wicket. Shreyas Iyer brought up his 50 in 10th over. Ashish Reddy was brought into the attack in the 11th over. Iyer welcomed him with a six over long off. 12 runs were taken from the first over of Reddy. Warner brought his experience campaigner Praveen Kumar back into the attack and Praveen picked up the wicket Sunrisers were looking for. Iyer was not able to read the slower delivery from him and top edged one straight into the hands of Warner. The stage was set for Yuvraj to come and go for big shots. After Iyer got out Duminy who was playing run a ball innings came into his own. He started exploring the ground then.

In 15th over Duminy took on Bopara. He fetched 15 runs from that over with the help of two fours and a six. After Bopara, Duminy took the attack on Steyn. He hit Steyn for a huge one in 16th over but on the last ball of that over Steyn came back with his wicket. After 16 overs Daredevils were 132/3. Yuvraj took his time till Duminy was in the middle but now it was his turn to go big. Ashish Reddy came on to bowl 17th over and Yuvraj went after him on the very first ball. It looked six the moment it left Yuvraj's bat but Warner was waiting at the boundary for it. He jumped and took the catch. He grabbed it with both the hands above his head. It was a stunner to dismiss Yuvraj. Tough luck. After that flow of runs just stopped. After 18 overs Daredevils only managed to get to the total of 142/4. Then Jadhav and Mathews both hit Praveen Kumar for a six in 19th over but again Bhuvaneshwar Kumar bowled a brilliant last over. He conceded only 9 runs in that over and Delhi ended up at 167/4. 180 was looking good at one stage. Delhi was 15 runs short here. Sunrisers Hyderabad made a good comeback in this match and had a great chance to win this one.

Delhi Daredevils began their defence well. Coulter-nile, Duminy and Joseph gave nothing away in first four overs. Sunrisers were 20/0 after 4 overs. In 5th over Mathews came into the attack and Dhawan welcomed him ruthlessly. Dhawan hit him for three fours in that over and Sunrisers was off to a chase. Warner took on Joseph after that and hit four 4s in the 6th over. From 20/0 in 4 overs Sunrisers reached to 50/0 at the end of the powerplay. Duminy came back into the attack in 7th over and he first picked up the wicket of Dhawan on first ball of that over then he picked up Warner on the third ball of the same over. Duminy brought Daredevils back in the game with his golden arm. He knows how to lead from the front. Here Delhi was in desperate need of wicket he took the ball and picked up two cruicial wickets. K L Rahul and Bopara started building the innings after that. Sunrisers Hyderabad reached to the total of 69 at the loss of 2 wickets at the end of 10 overs.

Apart from Duminy no other DD spinner was getting a wicket. After 12 overs Sunrisers were 86/2. Mathews was brought back into the attack as spinners was unable to provide the breakthrough. It worked for Duminy as he uprooted the leg stump of Rahul in that over. Wicket of Rahul made Bopara ruthless. He started hitting boundaries regularly. Sunrisers made 110 runs at the loss of 3 wickets after 15 overs. The way Bopara was playing it looked like he will take his team home comfortably. Tahir was brought back into the attack to take the wicket of Bopara but he dismissed Ojha rather. Bopara hit him for a six on the 3rd ball of 16th over but Tahir came back with the wicket of Ojha on the last ball of that over. After that Duminy himself came onto bowl again and Bopara dispatched him for a six on the 1st ball of that over but it was Duminy's day. He picked up Bopara's wicket on the 3rd ball of that over. Not only Bopara he also dismissed Morgan in the same over. What else a captain should do for a team. He hit a 50 with the bat after deciding to bat first and now he picked up four wickets with the ball. Terrific performance.

Sunrisers were 129/6 after 17. Sunrisers needed 39 runs off 3 overs & they had players to get those runs. Duminy again handed the ball to Tahir but Karn Sharma dispatched him for two big sixes of consecutive deliveries to bring his team back in the match. After that 16 run over 23 were needed off 12 balls. Mathews came on to bowl 19th over and Ashish Reddy was waiting for him. A six and a four under such pressure shows how good that player is. Ashish Reddy is with Hyderabad from the second season of IPL and he has been unsung hero of Hyderabad team. The equation was down to 10 runs off 6 balls. Duminy went to his best bowler Coulter-Nile for the last over. Coulter-Nile build the immense pressure by bowling wide yorkers and under that pressure Ashish Reddy ran himself out. Karn Sharma only managed to take a single after that. 8 needed off 3 then and Praveen Kumar was on strike. He has the potential to go big but he too only managed to take a single. Now 7 needed of 2 balls. Sunrisers needed a big hit off the next ball and Karn Sharma went for it. It looked a six but Agarwal had some other plans at boundary. He jumped and thrown the ball back in the field. He timed is jump well. He was unable to take the catch but he didn't allow the ball to cross the boundary line. It made the difference of winning and loosing the match. Karn Sharma took two runs of that ball and gave his wiclet away on the last ball of the innings. Delhi Daredevils won the match by 4 runs.

Delhi Daredevils won the match only because of that effort by Mayank Agarwal. It was as important as that Warner's catch of Yuvraj. If Mayank Agarwal hadn't pulled that ball in then everything Duminy did would have gone in vain. According to me Mayank Agarwal was the man of the match only because of that effort. Daredevils' next match is up against Kolkata Knight Riders.

#IPL8: #DDvKKR