IPL 2018: Delhi choke again as SRH win by 7 wickets, top points table

In the 36th match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL 2018, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Delhi Daredevils by 7 wickets and moved to the top spot of the VIVO IPL points table. Delhi Daredevils won the toss and opted to bat first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The match was crucial for Delhi, placed at the seventh spot of the VIVO points table, as it needed to remain in the tournament and a defeat could set a virtual exit for them. Delhi suffered an early setback as Maxwell has to face a dramatic exit. Prithvi Shaw, in a usual fashion, started hitting and gave a great start, Çaptain Shreyas Iyer too joined soon. Delhi got the desired start despite Maxwell's early departure The much-needed breakthrough for Hyderabad came in Rashid Khan's (11th) over and Shaw was off to the pavilion but only after scoring his fifty. The run rate slid a bit from the path. Iyer was dropped by Saha and it proved costly for SRH as he went on to make 44 runs. Pant lost his wicket at a crucial point as Rashid struck again.

Overall, Delhi lost a good opportunity to put up a big total and much of the credit goes to SRH bowlers who maintained a leash on the batsmen. Chasing a target of 164 runs, Sunrisers Hyderabad started maintaining a low profile in the first few overs. Maxwell dropped a simple catch and denied an early wicket to Delhi. Delhi was reaping benefit from bowlers' efforts. However, Avesh Khan's one over spoiled the equation for Delhi as he gave away 27 runs. The run rate was shot up to 10 per over. Hales was trapped in Mishra's web at last and Delhi got its first breakthrough. The run rate was brought down by a significant margin as Delhi bowlers were keeping a tight vigil on the run flow. Mishra struck again and ended Dhawan's inning. Boundaries were restricted up to an extent but runs came through singles and doubles for SRH. The run also came down to near 7 per over. Delhi Daredevils bowlers had a big challenge ahead as they had to continue the same. Williamson accelerated the pace and went for big shots, but it soon halted again. Yusuf Pathan came and did the needful. Sunrisers Hyderabad emerged as the winners in the end.