Delhi Capitals (DC) beat SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the first Super Over game of the 2021 Indian Premier League on Sunday at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium.
SRH, who sent in captain David Warner and Kane Williamson, managed to take just seven runs in their Super Over which was bowled by Axar Patel. One run was deducted from SRH's tally after replays showed the captain not crossing the crease with his bat for the last run.
Captain Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan walked out for the 7 run chase while spinner Rashid Khan bowled for SRH. The batsmen took two runs off the first two balls before Pant hit a four off the third. The next ball, however, went for a dot after which the batsmen stole two runs off the last two balls to take DC over the line.
With the win, Delhi now climb to the second spot in the IPL standings, tied on points with table-toppers Chennai Super Kings. RCB too have 8 points from 5 matches but are placed lower based on net run rate.
Earlier, Prithvi Shaw's (53) half century helped Delhi Capitals score 159/4 in 20 overs after Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to bat first.
Shaw put up an opening partnership of 81 runs with Shikhar Dhawan (28) after which captain Rishabh Pant (37) and Steve Smith (34 not out) scored 58 runs for the third wicket.
Smith hit a six and a four in the last over to take DC close to the 160-run mark. For SRH, Siddharth Kaul was the pick of the bowlers with his haul of two wickets for 34 runs.
Hyderabad once again had David Warner and Jonny Bairstow come out to open but the pair could not replicate their showing from the last game as partnership was ended in the fourth over when Warner was run out on 6.
Kane Williamson and Bairstow then added 28 runs off 15 deliveries before Avesh Khan picked up the first of his three wickets in the match - Bairstow caught by Shikhar Dhawan on 38 (18). Williamson though continued his charge, even as Virat Singh struggled during his 14-ball stint, scoring just 4 runs.
Avesh Khan got him out in the 12th over and SRH were reduced to 84/3 in 11.2 overs. Kedar Jadhav made a 9-ball 9 even as Williamson went onto complete his half century.
In the end, a late flourish by J Suchith, where he scored 14 off 6 deliveries, ably assisted Williamson to take the match into a Super Over.
Axar Patel finished with 2/26 after picking the wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Rashid Khan. The spinner was playing his first match of the season after testing positive for COVID after checking into the team hotel. He came out of quarantine earlier this week and replaced Lalit Yadav in the playing XI.
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