In the 34th match of the Indian Premier League 2021 (IPL 2021), Delhi Capitals (DC) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Dubai International Stadium today.
Batting first after winning the toss, SRH scored 134/9 in 20 overs as Delhi's bowlers kept a leash on run flow and clinched wickets in regular succession. In reply, Delhi did not face much resistance as its strong top order shined on the occasion.
Capitals produced top-notch performance in their first match of the second phase of this year's IPL to eke out the easy win in 17.5 overs in their pursuit of a modest 135-run target. With this, DC now climbs to the top of the IPL 2021 points table.
DC's Nortje finished with 2 for 12 and was ably supported Rabada (3/37) and Axar Patel (2/21) in a brilliant bowling effort.
DC started their chase on an aggressive note with Shikhar Dhawan and young Prithvi Shaw (11 off 8) adding 20 runs in 17 balls before the latter was caught by Kane Williamson off the bowlng of Khaleel Ahmed as the batsman went for an extravagant shot over mid-wicket.
Swing bowler Sandeep Sharma was then taken to task by Dhawan as he hit the medium pacer for back-to-back boundaries in the 10th over take DC to 69 for one. But Dhawan paid the price for being too aggressive when he was holed out by Abdul Samad off the bowling of Rashid as the left-hander went for a slog sweep over deep square leg in search of a six.
Shreyas Iyer (47 not out off 41), who played the second fiddle when Dhawan was around, then took the onus on himself and upped the ante, hitting Sandeep Sharma for two consecutive fours in the 14th over.
Earlier, SRH put up a dismal batting performance to manage a meagre 134 for nine.
Nortje and Rabada were terrific with the ball as they extracted extra bounce and pace from the relatively low and slow wicket to dismantle SRH top-order.
The script didn't turn out as SRH wanted after opting to bat as they lost David Warner (0) in the third ball of the innings without any runs on the board.
Wriddhiman Saha (18) then added 29 runs with skipper Kane Williamson (18) before the former mistimed a pull to Shikhar Dawan at midwicket of the bowling off Kagiso Rabada.
Williamson and Manish Pandey then tried to build the innings, stitching 31 runs for the third wicket but SRH soon suffered a jolt when their skipper gave a simple catch to Shimron Hetmyer at long-off off the bowling of Axar Patel.
Damage already done, Abdul Samad (28 off 21, 2x4s, 1x6) tried his best to shore up the run-rate in company of Rashid Khan (22 off 19 balls) but he too departed in search of quick runs, top-edging a miss-timed pull to DC skipper Rishabh Pant off Rabada's bowling.
 "IPL 2021, Match 33, DC vs SRH Highlights: Delhi Capitals win by 8 wickets")
