Hyderabad finally broke the UAE jinx to get the first victory of the Indian T20 League 2020, courtesy of a great bowling display to defend 162 on a challenging track and won by 15 runs.
Toss – Delhi opted to bowl first
Team changes – Williamson and Samad in for Hyderabad
Ishant back for Delhi
Delhi skipper won the toss and elected to bowl first. Hyderabad put a steady start and added 77 runs for the opening wicket. Mishra gave a breakthrough to Delhi and he also bagged in-form Manish Pandey. Hyderabad’s most dependable batsman Kane Williamson came as a relief for Hyderabad and he put a solid stand with Bairstow to carry the innings forward. Bairstow completed his half-century and got out after a gritty but less-impact knock. It was the slowest half-century from English batsmen in his T20 career. Abdul Samad hit a straight six to Nortje to start his IPL career on high but Hyderbad failed to carry the momentum, despite getting good support in the middle. They played 38 dot balls and scored only 11 boundaries throughout the innings. In last 3 overs, they failed to draw acceleration and scored just 22 runs to end the score on 162.
In the chase, Delhi faced the early blow as Shaw got out in the first over behind the stumps. Shreyas Iyer looked uncomfortable in first few balls and gets settled but Rashid got him out when Delhi was looking to build a partnership. Rashid strike again in 12th over to remove well set Sikhar Dhawan to take Hyderabad into the game. Pant smashed two straight-six to Abhishek Sharma to make things interesting. He set a quick partnership with Hetmyer to take Delhi home but Bhuvi broke the stand by getting Hetmyer out on 22. In 17th over, Rashid made a big breakthrough to get Pant out to put Hyderabad on driver's seat. Rashid went for just 17 in his 4-overs spell and scalped 3 wickets. The run-rate pressure couldn't take Delhi to the final total and they suffered the first loss of this tournament.
Star performer of the match
Hyderabad was looking for a top-class performance from a player who has an impact in the game and Rashid Khan did that job. He picked Delhi skipper first and later removed set Shikhar Dhawan in 12th over. When Pant was looking to get Delhi home, he sent him pavilion with a smart delivery. He picked three wickets for just 17 and becomes the star performer of the day.
