Sunrisers Hyderabad crushed Delhi Daredevils by six wickets in a crucial match here Saturday night to climb up to the third position in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Chasing 81 for the win after bundling out Daredevils to the lowest score this season, the home team reached the target in 13.5 overs.
With the fifth consecutive win at their home ground, Sunrisers have increased their points to 14 and moved up to third position behind Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Daredevils, which need to win every match to reach semifinals, remained at second from bottom with six points. For Sunrisers, Shikhar Dhawan was the top scorer with 22 while Darren Sammy remained unbeaten on 18.
Sunrisers began the chase on a brisk note with both Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel hitting a few boundaries to take the score to 30 without loss in the four overs.
Johan Botha struck in his first over to send back Dhawan (22 off 16 balls). Promoted in the order, Ashish Reddy (5 off 6) departed early as Nehra had him caught behind the wickets.
Jeevan Mendis gave another breakthrough when Patel (14 off 18) left the crease but failed to read the googly and wicket keeper removed the stumps. The home team lost three wickets with the addition of 10 runs.
Skipper Kumara Sangakkara joined Darren Sammy and the two added 17 runs before the Sri Lankan was out while trying to hit Botha over long-off.
However, this was not enough for the Daredevils to stop Sunrisers from reaching the target. Earlier, bowling with fire, Sunrisers Hyderabad bundled out Daredevils to 80, the lowest in the current season at the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium.
In a poor display of batting after winning the toss, Daredevils were all out for 80 in 19.1 overs.
The top-order failed miserably while middle-order collapsed like proverbial nine pins before the double-edged deadly bowling of pace and spin by Sunrisers.
Daredevils, who need to win every match to keep their chances of reaching semifinals intact, surrendered meekly to Sunrisers.
So poor was the performance by the visitors that they could score only four boundaries and a six in the entire innings. Only four batsmen could enter double digits with the highest 17 scored by Unmkt Chand, who played 24 balls.
Delhi, who were 43 for two after 10 overs, lost the remaining eight wickets for 37 runs. Last four wickets fell for 10 runs in 4.1 overs. No boundary was scored after 11th over as every batsman struggled to make even singles.
Dale Steyn spit fire from the word go to keep the openers under check. He claimed two for 21 in his four overs. Darren Sammy and Thisara Perera also claimed two apiece conceding 10 and 11 runs respectively.
Ishant Sharma, who was unplayable, claimed one for 11. Spinners Karan Sharma and Amit Mishra also bagged a wicket each
After two tight overs, it was captain Mahela Jayawardene who hit Steyn for a six over long-leg for six. However, the Sri Lankan did not last long as Ishant Sharma trapped him leg before in his second over. Jayawardene was not happy with the umpire's decision.
The visitors scored only 23 runs in the first five overs with a tight bowling by Steyn and Ishant Sharma. Perera also bowled with discipline, not allowing Sehwag and Chand to play their aggressive shots.
Darren Sammy struck on his first ball to remove Sehwag, who scored just eight runs off 17 deliveries. The opener, looking for a cut, was beaten to a ball, which uprooted the off-stump.
David Warner (8 off 15) got a life when Hanuma Vihari failed to take a catch as the Australian tried to lift Amit Mishra. However, the southpaw failed to capitalize on the fielder's mistake as he was deceived by a googly of the same bowler in his next over.
Earlier, Steyn gave the home side another breakthrough when bowled Chand, who struggled to score runs. The youngster played 24 balls for his 17.
Kedar Jadhav was the next to go, caught and bowled by Karan Sharma. The visitors were in deep trouble with five for 57 in 13th over. They lost four wickets for 25 runs in 5.1 0vers. They lost the remaining five with the addition of 23 runs.
