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Williamson's class drags SRH to a tie before DC clinch the Super Over

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Last updated on 25 Apr 2021 | 08:51 PM
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Williamson's class drags SRH to a tie before DC clinch the Super Over

Delhi Capitals clinch two points despite Kane Williamson showing both class and calmness in his 51-ball 66

It is a game of inches. David Warner ran a short run on the final ball of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings in the Super Over which brought down Delhi Capitals’ target to 8, instead of 9. It proved to be a decisive moment as Delhi scampered through to the target with a leg bye each on the final two balls. However, that was not the only big moment in the game which went through various ups and downs on its way to a tie. 

Hyderabad seemed down and out in a run chase of 160 which was clearly 20 runs above the par score observed at Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium this IPL. But Kane Williamson’s calmness and class kept pushing Hyderabad towards the target. 

Walking in at 28 for one, after Warner’s dismissal for his second misjudged run in five games, and later watching Jonny Bairstow walk back as well within the Powerplay, Williamson single-handedly carried Hyderabad’s chase with his expertise of tackling spin and finding gaps. 

The number four, five, six, seven and eight, who batted with Williamson for the next 64 balls of the innings post Bairstow’s dismissal scored 26 runs from 37 balls combined. It was a stark contrast from Bairstow’s company who pummelled 38 runs from 18 balls but perished while trying one shot too many in the sixth over. 

From there on it was only Williamson. Back to back sweep shots, one conventional and another reverse against Amit Mishra showed the game is not done until he is there. A boundary past extra cover to complete his fifty was probably the shot of Hyderabad’s innings. But, with 39 required off the last three overs, he still required someone to provide the impetus from the other end. 

Williamson got that from the number 9 - Jagadeesha Suchith, playing his first game for Hyderabad. Maybe the pacers operating helped his case but the left-hander smashed 16 runs off six balls, with two fours and a six. The six came when they needed 10 runs from four balls. With four required off the last three balls, Williamson and Suchith scuttled three singles, in similar vein with Dhawan and Pant razing off the deficit in the Super Over. This was the first Super Over of IPL 2021. 

For Delhi, Avesh Khan was once again the star with the ball. He took some beating, 34 runs in his four overs, but also snaffled three wickets, none more important than of Jonny Bairstow. 

Earlier, Delhi did well to put up an above par score while batting first. They won the toss and opted to bat first and Prithvi Shaw vindicated the decision straightaway. He began Delhi’s innings with three boundaries in a row. On a pitch where run scoring becomes difficult with each passing over, Shaw fed Delhi with a headstart. Quite appropriately, he was adjudged as the player of the match for his contribution.  

Delhi notched up 51 runs in the first six overs and 39 off them came from Shaw while Dhawan struggled with his rhythm on a rare off night. Shaw eventually completed his second fifty of the season from 35 balls before running himself out for 53 off 39 in a mix-up with Rishabh Pant. 

Dhawan had fallen in the previous over and the quick departure of both the openers after an 81-run stand provided Hyderabad an opening. However, Pant and Steve Smith carried on in an unhurried manner, forging a 58-run stand off 42 balls for the third wicket. 

Delhi had a little stutter in the death overs but Smith producing two boundaries in the last over - a four over third-man with an outside edge and then a clean strike over square leg for six - stretched Delhi’s score to 159. 

Hyderabad will contemplate on not sending Bairstow in the Super Over straightaway. While Warner never looked in rhythm in his brief stay, a Super Over is never easy for a touch player like Williamson, no matter he was 66 not out off 51 balls. Bairstow was the inevitable choice for Super Over given he has dominated the bowlers in Chennai in every sense of the word. 

8 runs was par for Rashid Khan to defend. A reverse lapped boundary from Pant over third-man almost sealed the deal for Delhi before they helped themselves to the target with a couple of leg byes. It’s an improbable proposition but Hyderabad have never won a Super Over with Rashid bowling for them, this being the third such occasion. 


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