IPL 2019: Eliminator, DC vs SRH, Review – Rishabh Pant marauds the Sunrisers in a thriller to knock 'em out

We are into the knockouts of the IPL 2019 now and every mistake can knock a team out of the tournament. In the game against the Delhi Capitals (DC), the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) committed several blunders of such. The final over of the match, where SRH lost three wickets, might have been a reason. Though, it was Rishabh Pant, the man for the Capitals, who yet again was the best performer for his team with an excellent and responsible knock.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was top-class with his power-hitting display and almost single-handedly took his team through when they were under pressure. Despite the best possible efforts from the SRH bowlers, one over from Basil Thampi where he leaked 22 runs shifted the game completely in the favour of Delhi. While the Sunrisers are now knocked out, DC will be playing CSK in Qualifier 2 as they fancy their chances of making it to the final for the first time in the history of IPL.

The three phases of SRH innings

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill got Hyderabad off to an electric start. The first few overs is where the ball came nicely onto the bat and he tried to make the most of it. Despite losing his opening partner Wriddhiman Saha for 8 runs, Guptill kept the pedal pressed and hit some massive sixes. 54 runs were scored in the powerplay and the Kiwi batsman perished to Amit Mishra after racing his way to 36 runs from 19 balls. Post powerplay, the innings slowed down drastically.

Both Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson found it extremely tough to find the boundaries. In the next nine overs, only 50 runs could be scored. While Manish got out after crawling to 35-ball 30, the skipper could score 28 runs from 27 balls. However, Vijay Shankar and Mohammad Nabi revived the innings towards the end with some big hits. They scored 11-ball 25 and 13-ball 20 respectively. 58 runs came in the last five overs and SRH lost five wickets in this period. At the end of 20 overs, they managed to push their total up to 162 runs.

Rishabh Pant excites, then disappoints but team gets through

The Delhi Capitals started off the chase really well. Prithvi Shaw went all-out attack after the bowlers in the powerplay while Shikhar Dhawan tried to play the anchor. 66 runs were added for the opening wicket before the left-hander fell in Deepak Hooda’s trap. He was stumped out by Saha after the ball drifted down the leg-side. Khaleel Ahmed then got SRH back into the game with two wickets in the same over. First, Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for 8 runs followed by Shaw’s wicket for 56.

Then came the thunderbolt from Rashid Khan where he bowled a double-wicket maiden in the 15th over of the match. Both Colin Munro and Axar Patel were back in the pavilion subjecting the Capitals to extreme pressure. However, Pant held his nerve and knew exactly when he had to attack. He didn’t take many risks initially and exploded towards the end of the innings. 34 runs were required off the last three overs. Out of this, the left-hander alone scored 22 runs in the 18th over almost sealing the game for his team.

However, he got out on 49 in the next over when his side was 5 runs shy of a win. While it seemed as if the Capitals were cruising past comfortably, the last over bowled by Khaleel Ahmed was wonderful. The equation was brought down to 2 runs from 2 balls when Keemo Paul smashed a four to finish the game for his team.

Brief Scores:

SRH: 162/8 in 20 overs (Martin Guptill 36, Manish Pandey 30, Keemo Paul 3/32)

DC: 165/8 in 20 overs (Prithvi Shaw 56, Rishabh Pant 49, Rashid Khan 2/15)

Result: Delhi Capitals won the match by 2 wickets.

Man of the Match: Rishabh Pant

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