“A win is always a good game,” said Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting coach Hemang Badani after Aiden Markram’s Orange Army breached the Quila Kotla on Saturday night. He was moved by his team’s intent which helped them defeat Delhi Capitals (DC) at their home, seeking perfect revenge for Monday’s defeat in Hyderabad.
The stars began to align for SRH right from the toss which was won by Markram and he decided to bat first. Promoting Abhishek Sharma up in the order was the king’s move and it worked immensely. The youngster blasted a 36-ball 67, with the help of 12 boundaries and six, setting the tone of the game for SRH. Later, a 53-run partnership between Heinrich Klaasen and Abdul Samad took the hosts to 197 for 6 in 20 overs. While the South African notched up his maiden IPL fifty, scoring an unbeaten 53 off 27 deliveries, the Jammu batter made a notable contribution of 28 runs in 21 balls.
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The target was stiff and with an ineffective bunch of Indian domestic batters, it was always going to be a tall order for DC. Following an unseasonable dismissal of David Warner, the likes of Phil Salt and Mitch Marsh took center stage and changed the course of the chase. The English-Aussie duo launched an assault on the Hyderabad bowling unit and it suddenly started raining sixes and boundaries at Kotla. Umran Malik received the harshest treatment among all, getting hammered for 22 runs in his only over.
The partnership had breached the 100-run barrier while Salt and Marsh seemed to be crossing the finish line with a fair amount of balls to spare. But then, the strategic time-out came into play, allowing the Sunrisers to rejig their spin-bowling plans. Things started falling in place for them as Mayank Markande returned to jolt Delhi by removing Salt on a short ball while Akeal Hossein caught the big fish – Marsh – right after getting smashed for a six. Once these big guns were back in the hut, the Delhi batting fell apart with the least left for Axar Patel who walked to bat at no. 7.
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Sunrisers’ Plan B
Both Marsh and Salt were whacking the SRH bowlers off the back foot. The think tank noticed the pattern and during the strategic break, a simple message was passed to the bowlers – shorten the length and drag the Delhi batters out of their comfort zone.
It was indeed a tense situation in the SRH dugout when Marsh and Salt were scoring in canter. Responding to a News18 Cricketnext query, Badani admitted that men in orange were a little bit worried.
“I’d be lying if I say we weren’t pensive. We were worried seeing that they were putting in runs, they were batting at a good pace. But then, we had a break during the 8th over, the time-out, and the message given to the bowlers was that these batters were looking to play off the back foot and we were giving them that, maybe the length was slightly shorter,” Badani said at the post-match presser.
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The SRH batting coach praised debutant Akeal Hossein who left a massive impact with Marsh’s wicket. The young West Indies spinner was credited for recollecting himself right after getting smashed out of the park. The very next delivery, he changed his line a bit and Marsh ended up playing a mistimed shot to get caught by Markram near extra cover.
“What we tried passing on to the guys on the field was can we bowl a little bit slower; to spin the ball or bowl a bit further up. I’ve to give full marks to Akeal because he was hit for a six on the previous delivery. But it was pretty much the same ball, probably the line was a bit straighter but the length was still up. And with that, I feel, the ball turned a little bit and then, we got the better of Marsh,” Badani further said.
“In these kinds of games, I’ve seen that when you have a partnership going and if you are able to break one, then the floodgates are opened and there’s a chance of things opening up,” he added.
Delhi’s campaign almost over
DC continue to be at the 10th spot with just 2 wins in their kitty. Even if they win all their leftover games, they will have 16 points to end with which won’t be enough to take them to the top four. However, one more loss will surely shatter their playoff hopes. On the other hand, Hyderabad jumped up to 7th, surpassing Mumbai Indians with a better net run rate.
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