After a few poor outings, Shikhar Dhawan found his magical form again as the dashing left-hander hammered 78 to propel Delhi Capitals to pile up a huge total of 189 for 3 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second Qualifier of the Dream11 Indian Premier League on Sunday.
The experienced southpaw, who had earlier in the season struck back-to-back centuries, was in his element yet again at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. Dhawan’s 78 came off 50 balls and was laced with six boundaries and a couple of sixes.
Dhawan was involved in two big partnerships to set up the tone for the match. He and Marcus Stoinis, who was promoted as an opener in a do-or-die encounter, gave the innings a flying start. The fifty of the innings came in just five overs as they were maintaining a ten-run per-over average from the word go. The new opening duo added 86 runs in just 8.2 overs.
Stoinis’s thretening innings was cut short by Rashid Khan as the leggie cleaned up him with a brilliant delivery. Stoinis’ 38-run knock came in 27 deliveries and studded with five fours and a six.
Dhawan then added another 40 runs for the second wicket with skipper Shreyas Iyer, who earlier had won the toss and opted to bat. Iyer played well for his 21 runs (20 balls, 1×4) but failed to play big shots and accelerate the scoring further.
Shimron Hetmyer then gave the innings a perfect finish by cracking an unbeaten 42 off 22 deliveries. The aggressive left-hander walloped four boundaries and six.
For SRH, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma and Jason Holder took a wicket each but failed to stop the flow of runs.
The winner of this clash will play the November 10 final against the defending champions Mumbai Indians.
Brief scores
Delhi Capitals 189 for 3 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 78, Shimron Hetmyer 42 not out, Marcus Stoinis 38, Shreyas Iyer 21; Rashid Khan 1-26, Sandeep Sharma 1-30, Jason Holder 1-50) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Courtesy: orangecitysports.com
