Sunrisers Hyderabad squandered a brilliant start to finish at 146 for eight against a disciplined Delhi Daredevils in a league encounter of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Thursday.
The hosts were once again off to a brilliant start as the opening duo of David Warner (46) and Shikhar Dhawan (34) fired 51 runs in the powerplay to lay the platform but lost the momentum as the Delhi bowlers bounced back with some brilliant efforts.
Warner, who has been in prolific form this season, looked set for another big score but off-spinner Jayant Yadav foxed him with a slower one to dismiss him four short of his sixth half-century. The Australian smashed six boundaries and a six to add 67 with Dhawan.
Next in, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (27) joined Dhawan but the duo could add only 31 runs as leg-spinner Amit Mishra sent the southpaw packing with Sanju Samson latching on to a brilliant running catch at deep midwicket. Dhawan's 37-ball knock was laced with three hits to the fence.
Mishra struck again in his very next over to remove incoming batsman Yuvraj Singh (8) and then Shami, who leaked 22 off his first two overs, packed Moises Henriques off the first delivery of his third over to reduce the hosts to 114 for 4.
Young Deepak Hooda (10) then added 21 runs for the fifth wicket with Williamson, only to be foolishly dismissed hit wicket from a slower delivery off Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Williamson soon joined Hooda at the dug-out after being cleaned up by Chris Morris. In his attempt to accelerate the scoring, the Kiwi tried to flash a fast yorker length ball only to find his bails in the air. His 24-ball knock included three boundaries.
Morris then ran out Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1) in his own follow through as wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha (7), Barinder Sran (1) and Ashish Nehra (1) could only add seven runs in the last over.
For the visitors, Mishra and Coulter-Nile picked two wickets while Yadav, Shami and Morris chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 146/8 (David Warner 46, Shikhar Dhawan 34, Kane Williamson 27, Mishra 2-19, Coulter-Nile 2-25) vs Delhi Daredevils.
--IANS
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