Twitter Reactions: Delhi Capitals set the sun on Sunrisers Hyderabad to storm into the IPL 2020 final

Delhi Capitals have stormed into the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 defeating the spirited Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 17 runs. The Shreyas Iyer-led side batted well courtesy superb knocks from Shikhar Dhawan, Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer. The bowlers then just about did the job defying a certain genius in Kane Williamson to set the finals’ date with Mumbai Indians (MI) on November 10.

Earlier, going against the trend in Abu Dhabi, DC won the toss and opted to bat first. It also had to do with their issues chasing a score. Irrespective of the intent of batting first, it worked for them. The new opening pair of Marcus Stoinis and Shikhar Dhawan got the team off to a brilliant start. The former opened up after being dropped on 3 by Jason Holder and Stoinis made SRH pay for it.

Dhawan also found his touch after an off day against Mumbai Indians (MI) and they pummelled SRH bowlers in the powerplay. They added more than 60 runs in the first six overs and forced David Warner to introduce Rashid Khan early into the attack. As expected, the leggie struck in his second over castling Stoinis to break the 86-run opening stand.

The middle overs, as usual, witnessed a dip in the scoring rate even as Shreyas Iyer’s struggles continued. He scraped through to 21 and eventually lose his wicket to Jason Holder in the 14th over. But this turned out to be the only joyous moment for the West Indies all-rounder on the day. The likes of Shimron Hetmyer and Dhawan took him apart later in the innings as Holder ended up conceding 50 runs in his four overs.

Dhawan, meanwhile, completed yet another half-century while Hetmyer, making a comeback, also batted with freedom. The 52-run partnership off 27 balls gave the much-needed impetus to DC’s innings. SRH bowled the last two overs well to concede only 13 runs as the Capitals ended on 189 runs for the loss of three wickets in 20 overs. While Dhawan got out on 78 with six fours and two sixes, Hetmyer smashed an unbeaten 42 off just 22 balls.

The chase

SRH needed a very good start to gun down a mammoth total of 190 runs. But they were rocked very early with Kagiso Rabada castling David Warner with the first ball of his spell. Priyam Garg opened in this game and he started off well hitting a couple of sixes. But Marcus Stoinis bowled a superb delivery to send him back in the fifth over. Manish Pandey too got in the same over in quest to churn out quick runs off the same bowler.

At 44/3, SRH were in deep trouble and then the rebuilding phase started in a steep chase. Kane Williamson and Jason Holder first calmed things down in the middle to arrest any kind of a collapse. The former kept playing a big shot to the perfection here and there to stay in touch with the net run-rate. But he lost Holder in the 12th over to end the 46-run partnership.

Abdul Samad came out then and hit some lusty blows to take his partner Williamson in confidence. Both of them batted cleverly rotating strike and also hitting fours and sixes perfectly when required. In the meantime, the Kiwi skipper also got to his half-century and had a bigger job to do in the middle. Samad, on the other hand, was looking confident after hitting a massive six off Anrich Nortje.

The equation came down to 51 off the last four overs with a place in the final at stake. But SRH’s chances took a hard hit with Stoinis picking his third wicket in the form of Williamson who scored a sublime 67. Rashid Khan then came out and slammed a four and a six off Ashwin to keep SRH 30 runs away from victory from the last two overs. DC handed over Kagiso Rabada, their best bowler, to deliver in the penultimate over.

And the man delivered it for his team picking up three wickets in the over. Samad smacked a six to start the over but the South African pace bowler made a stunning comeback to nip him out and end the contest. It turned out to be a bridge too far for the youngster and SRH as they ended on 172 in their 20 overs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: