Anurag Kumar
On Saturday, Mitchell Marsh finally displayed his all-around prowess for Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2023 after five silent games. The 31-year-old Australian took 4/27 and then scored 63 off 39 deliveries, but it was not enough as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated the hosts by nine runs at Arun Jaitley Stadium. In pursuit of 198, Delhi concluded with 188/6. With only two victories in eight contests, Delhi remains at the bottom of the table.
Abhishek Sharma (67 – 36 balls, 12×4, 1×6) and Heinrich Klaasen (53 not out – 27 balls, 2×4, 4×6) contributed to Sunrisers’ 197/6 total.
While Delhi lost David Warner in the opening over of the run chase, they seemed on course for a rare win when Marsh and Phil Salt added 112 runs off 66 balls for the second wicket. After reaching 57/1 in six overs, they were able to keep up with the asking rate even when the fielding restrictions eased. They punished Umran Malik for 22 runs in the seventh over, Marsh clearing the boundary twice off short deliveries. While Salt reached his fifty off 29 balls, Marsh took 28 balls to get to the milestone.
The breakthrough for Sunrisers came in the 12th over when leg-spinner Mayank Markande took a superb return catch to dismiss Salt. Manish Pandey and Marsh were also dismissed in consecutive overs, leaving Delhi requiring 69 runs from the final six overs. Despite a few ferocious strikes from Axar Patel late in the game, Delhi was unable to reach the goal.
ALSO READ :Is 100% Fruit Juice Good for You?
Abhishek, who scored 426 runs for SRH last season, provided an early energy in his third game as the opening batter this year. By striking Ishant Sharma for two off-side fours in the first over, he immediately asserted his dominance over the game.
Even though Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi were dismissed in the powerplay, Abhishek’s innings enabled Sunrisers to reach 62/2 at the end of the first six overs. Ishant bore the bulk of the assault, allowing four fours during the final over of the powerplay. Abhishek was able to locate the gap through point when the ball was pitched short. As the length increased, Abhishek aimed the arc toward the earth.
He reached his fifty off 25 deliveries when he hit Kuldeep Yadav for six over mid-wicket with a slog sweep. Marsh was however able to continue providing Delhi with breakthroughs. Three deliveries separated the dismissals of Aiden Markram and Harry Brook in the tenth over. Markram was dismissed after pulling a short delivery to Axar at the deep midwicket boundary, while Brook was caught by the same fielder inside the 30-yard circle. Sunrisers failed to score a single run during Marsh’s over, but they made up for it by scoring 24 runs in the following over. While Abhishek began Mukesh Kumar’s over by hitting two fours, Klaasen concluded it by smashing a four and six.
Even after Abhishek was caught at long-on by Warner, the duo of Klaasen and Abdul Samad ensured that the scoring rate did not decrease. They put together a 53-run partnership in just 33 deliveries, striking six sixes between them, to propel the Sunrisers’ innings. Klaasen’s first fifty of the season required only 25 deliveries.
SRH scored 197/6 (A Sharma 67, H Klassesn 53, M Marsh 4/27); DC scored 188/6 (M mArsh 63, P Salt 59, M Markande 2/20). SRH triumphed by 9 runs.
