IPL 2021 hosted its final match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. With Ahmedabad and Delhi set to be the venues for the next run of fixtures, Delhi Capitals (DC) took on the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Toss and Team News
Rishabh Pant won the toss for DC and elected to bat first. After completing his recovery from COVID-19, Axar Patel was straightaway brought into the team in the place of Lalit Yadav.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed out due to a niggle and was replaced by auction purchase Jagadeesha Suchith.
Solid batting performance leads DC to healthy total
The in-form openers Prithvi Shaw (53) and Shikhar Dhawan (28) led their team to a brisk start. The pair played out half of the innings before Rashid Khan (1-31) struck in his second over.
Shikhar Dhawan was bowled by the leg-spinner and skipper Rishabh Pant (37) promoted himself to No.3 following the dismissal.
After securing a fine fifty in such conditions, Shaw’s innings came to a terrible end after being involved in a mix-up between the wickets with the captain himself.
Smart batting by Pant and Steve Smith (34) carried DC to a total of 159-4 in their 20 overs.
Williamson clinic forces the game into super over
A bullet throw by Kagiso Rabada (0-25) gave DC a crucial early breakthrough in the form of David Warner’s (6) wicket. Jonny Bairstow (38), who has arguably been one of the best batsmen on this surface, piled on the boundaries.
The wicket-keeper batsman went for a shot too many and was gone in the final over of the powerplay.
While they amassed 56 runs in the powerplay, SRH’s middle order was exposed. The duo of Virat Singh (4) and Kedar Jadhav (9) failed to provide any sort of support as Kane Williamson (66) kept going from his end.
The further back-to-back wickets of Rashid Khan (0) and Abhishek Sharma (5) by Axar Patel in the 17th over tilted the game in favour of DC.
Skipper Rishabh Pant opted to hand the 18th over to Amit Mishra (1-31), with two overs of Rabada still remaining. The over beared 11 runs and brought SRH back into the contest.
The departure of Vijay Shankar (8) brought in Jagadeesha Suchith (14), who hit fluent boundaries to take pressure off Williamson. Rabada’s final over yielded 15 runs as the batsmen ran hard. A scoop shot by the Kiwi skipper and a slog by Suchith was enough to take this tie into a super over.
Jonny Bairstow was surprisingly left off as Warner and Williamson took the crease. The duo managed to score 8 runs off Axar Patel to set a target off 9 for DC. However, the final delivery saw a short run by Warner which reduced the target to 8.
The left-handed duo of Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan entered to counter Rashid Khan. This marked the first instance that a super over was being bowled by spinners from both sides.
A solitary boundary from Pant and several intense singles were enough to steer DC home for their fourth win.
Brief Scorecard:
DC 159-4 (20 overs) (P.Shaw 53; S.Kaul 2-31)
SRH 159-7 (20 overs) (K.Williamson 66; A.Khan 3-34)
Match tied (Delhi Capitals won the Super Over)
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