Kane Williamson scored 89 off 51 balls to claim a 15-run win against the Delhi Daredevils in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad lost both matches against the Delhi Daredevils last season, and they were the only team they didn’t beat during that title campaign.
The hosts rectified DD’s good recent form against them by taking their win tally to 6-3 in favour of last year’s champions.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan led SRH’s recovery after losing their in-form skipper, David Warner (4), off the bowling of Chris Morris (4-26) in the second over.
Williamson led the way by smashing a 33-ball fifty before Dhawan followed, reaching a half-century of his own. The pair found the boundary with ease as they took their side from 12-1 to 148-1, smashing 11 fours between them, with the New Zealand skipper contributing five sixes to their 136-run partnership.
Williamson was the second to fall as Morris struck again, reducing SRH to 148-2.
This did not stop Dhawan, however, as he reached a 50-ball 70 (seven fours, one six), but two wickets from Morris throttled the Sunrisers to 170 for the loss of four wickets.
A brisk six-ball 12 from Moises Henriques helped the reigning champions post their second-highest total of the season, ending on 191-4 after 20 overs.
Despite an early wicket pegging the visitors back at 14-1, Sanju Samson and Karun Nair kept to the required rate. A run-out on the second ball of the 10th over dismissed Nair (33 of 23 balls), as gears shifted into the SRH’s favour.
Rishabh Pant’s (0) scalp was a result of the change in momentum as Samson followed on 43 off 33 balls, just under four overs later.
With DD on 105-4 (13.0), Angelo Mathews (31 off 25 balls) and Shreyas Iyer (50 off 31 balls) tried to pull Delhi back into the match, but it was a little too late as they slumped to a 15-run defeat.
This was the Sunrisers fourth consecutive win at home as they moved up to second on the log.
Williamson picked up the Man of the Match award for his incredible knock.
Photo: AFP/Cricinfo
