IPL 9, Match 34 Review: Bowlers, Dhawan lift SRH to fourth in the points table

Yuvraj Singh came into the Sunrisers Hyderabad side in place of Ashish Reddy for his first game of the season. David Warner won the toss and chose to bowl first play at home against the Gujarat Lions. Warner’s decision proved right as the Lions could manage only 126/6 which was overhauled by his team courtesy a measured knock by opener Shikhar Dhawan who made an unbeaten 47 off 40 balls striking 6 fours.

Lions made two changes to their lineup. Dwayne Bravo returned in place of James Faulkner in a like-for-like swap of slower-ball-specialist allrounders, while the left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan replaced the batsman Ishan Kishan to give them an extra bowling option.

The home side got a perfect start with back-to-back maiden overs bowled up front by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/28) and Ashish Nehra (0/23). Dwayne Smith (1) was all at sea against the moving ball of Kumar and ultimately lost his wicket by guiding one into the hands of short third-man. Suresh Raina smashed 20 off 10 including 1 four and 2 sixes, however, lost his crucial wicket to Kumar who took a fine return catch to reduce the visitors to 24/2 at the end of the 5th over.

Dinesh Karthik (0) couldn’t continue his form and lost his wicket to a brilliant catch from Kane Williamson off Mustafizur Rahman (2/17). The Kiwi and SRH fielders were unsure about the grab hence the catch was referred however replays confirmed that it was a clean catch. Brendon McCullum’s 19-ball struggle for 7 runs was ended by Moses Henriques in the 8th over with the score on 34.

Aaron Finch showed some fight and made an unbeaten 51 off 42 balls including three fours and a six that gave the score some respectability. Dwayne Bravo (18) was brilliantly caught by substitute fielder Vijay Shankar inches inside deep mid-wicket boundary off the bowling of Barinder Sran (1/21) while Ravindra Jadeja’s 18 off 13 was ended by Rahman. Praveen Kumar remained unbeaten on 6 off 4 balls striking one four. Yuvi bowled two tight overs and conceded just 13 runs.

Warner smashed 2 sixes and 1 four and made 24 off 17 balls before being dismissed by Dhawal Kulkarni (2/17) of his first delivery. Williamson (6) was brilliantly caught Smith at cover off Kumar (1/28) in the 4th over to reduce the home side to 33/2. Henriques (14) hit two fours before becoming Bravo’s (2/14) first wicket. Yuvraj (5) tried to smash one over cover off Kulkarni, however, was caught brilliantly in the deep by Sangwan who had otherwise miserable outing conceding 28 runs off his 2 overs. At this stage, the home side was 81/4 in the 14th over and the visitors sensed an opening.

Dhawan was given good company by Deepak Hooda who made 18 off 12 balls including 2 fours before being removed by Bravo. Naman Ojha made an unbeaten 9 off 6 striking one four in the penultimate over before the southpaw finished off the match with back-to-back boundaries. Dhawan’s ever improving form is a major plus for SRH as they look to progress further in the competition.

Brief Scores:

Gujarat Lions: 126/6 in 20 overs (A Finch 51; Rahman 2/17)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 129/5 in 19 overs (S Dhawan 47; D Bravo 2/14)

Man of the Match: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

What were the talking points of the game? – IPL 9, Match 34: SRH v DD – 5 Talking Points