HYDERABAD: Kane Williamson hammered 89 runs off just 51 balls to lead defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 15-run victory over Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League yesterday.
The New Zealand batsman’s 136-run stand with opener Shikhar Dhawan (70) helped propel Sunrisers to a commanding total of 191-4, with Daredevils being restricted to 176-5 in reply.
Chris Morris took all four of Sunrisers’ wickets for 26 runs.
Sunrisers captain David Warner won the toss and elected to bat, only to be caught by Amit Mishra for just four runs in the second over.
However, Williamson was imperious as he struck six boundaries and five sixes in the New Zealander’s first match of the season. He was caught by Shreyas Iyer at deep midwicket in the 17th over.
Morris was on a hat trick in the 19th over after taking the wickets of Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh (3) but was denied by Deepak Hooda. Moises Henriques and Hooda remained not out on 12 and nine respectively, plundering 17 runs from the final over bowled by Zaheer Khan.
Daredevils made a bright start in reply, reaching 56-1 at the end of six powerplay overs, with Sanju Samson (42) and Karun Nair (33) piling on the runs after Sam Billings (13) had been dismissed in the second over.
But the run-rate became a struggle after Samson gave an easy catch to Henriques off a Mohammed Siraj delivery, and Nair was run out by Yuvraj.
There was a fighting finish by Iyer, who hit two sixes and five boundaries in an unbeaten 31-ball 50, and a useful 31 from Mathews, but the game had slipped away from the Daredevils.
BRIEF SCORES: Sunrisers Hyderabad 191 for 4 (Williamson 89, Dhawan 70, Morris 4-24) beat Delhi Daredevils 176 for 5 (Iyer 50*, Samson 42, Siraj 2-39) by 15 runs.
TODAY’S MATCH: Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians (at Indore, starting 5.30pm Bahrain time).