New Delhi: The rain showed no signs of stopping. It wasn’t ideal for Delhi Capitals (DC) or Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), but that didn’t matter to the weather gods. The abandoned game saw SRH being eliminated from the playoff race while DC were hit hard by a no-result in a game they absolutely needed to win.
Both teams were given one point each. That takes DC to 13 points (fifth in the table) and SRH to seven.
Given that DC had put just 133/7 on the board, it wasn’t the worst result for them but they would have loved to get more out of this. For SRH, a season that held so much promise, has literally ended in a damp squib.
Pat Cummins, the SRH captain, chose to bowl against DC (fifth in the table at the start of the game) on a Hyderabad pitch that was expected to be full of runs.
It felt like a decision that was taken on the back of a batting line-up that, on paper, should be capable of chasing down any total. But very soon it turned out to be a game ripe with nostalgia.
Karun Nair, opening the innings for DC, was gone first ball. He chased a wide ball outside the off-stump from Cummins and got an edge through to the keeper.
Faf du Plessis was gone after making three runs, Abishek Porel made just 8 and Axar Patel (4) too fell in the Powerplay. At the end of six overs, DC were 26/4 – the second lowest Powerplay score of this season.
Cummins was superb in this initial phase. His three overs went for just 12 runs and he snared three wickets. An amazing 72% of the balls bowled were dots. And as if all of that wasn’t enough, he also took the catch to end Axar’s stay in the middle.
Giving away little while taking wickets too – this was a throwback to the SRH teams of old; teams that built their reputation on the strength of their bowling as against the current crop that prefers to let the bat do the talking. Between 2015 and 2021, SRH were at their economical best with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan leading the way. In that period, they had the best economy rate in a season three times, and ranked second or third on two other occasions.
And in a season when their batting has failed them time and again, SRH would have loved to have a bowling attack that could have helped them get a few good wins along the way.
The thing that has stood out for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings, Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans (the top four) is how they have managed to find a nice balance between the bat and the ball. The all-or-nothing approach can succeed spectacularly or result in a wipe out as it has for SRH. Points to ponder for the next season perhaps.
By the 10-over mark, DC had made their way to 47/5. As the score suggests, it was a real struggle with no batter looking comfortable in the middle.
It got worse when Vipraj Nigam was run out with both batters winding up at the same end. But that is when Tristan Stubbs (41* off 36) and Ashutosh (41 off 26) got together and added 66 for the seventh wicket.
It allowed DC to reach 133/7 at the end of their 20 overs. Not a great total but way better than anything they might have hoped for at the halfway mark. The lowest total defended by DC in the IPL was 130 versus GT in 2023.
However, none of that came into the equation as it was the rain that had the final say.