NEW DELHI: Yusuf Pathan (27 not out of 12 balls) held his nerves to help Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets last night in the Indian Premier League.
Hyderabad chased down the competitive 164-run target in 19.5 overs with skipper Kane Williamson (32* off 30 balls) hitting the winning single of the penultimate ball. Needing 28 runs off 12 balls, Yusuf smacked couple of sixes and as many fours to take the hosts home.
After suffering their seventh defeat in ten games, Daredevils are stranded at the seventh spot with six points.
Alex Hales, who was dropped by Glenn Maxwell on nine in the second over, and Shikhar Dhawan provided Sunrisers a solid start to the run chase.
After taking the team to 34/0 in five overs, Sunrisers openers chose pacer Avesh Khan to press the accelerator in the final over of the Powerplay. Dhawan hit the first maximum of the chase on a free-hit, before Hales took over and smashed three sixes to compile 27 runs as Sunrisers reached 61/0 after six overs.
Leg spinner Amit Mishra and Daniel Christian put a brake on the scoring rate with some tidy bowling. And it took a stunner from Mishra, the last ball of the ninth over, to bamboozle Hales as the veteran leggie gave Delhi a big breakthrough.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings virtually booked a play-off spot with a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore, courtesy a superb bowling effort from the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh.
Jadeja (3/18 in 4 overs) and Harbhajan (2/22 in 4 overs) wreaked havoc as RCB could only manage 127 for 9, largely due to efforts from Parthiv Patel (53 off 41 balls) and Tim Southee (36* off 26 balls).
Treatment
On a tricky pitch, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (31 no off 23 balls) picked up Yuzvendra Chahal for some special treatment with three huge sixes as CSK knocked off the required runs in only 18 overs to move to 14 points from 10 games.
Another win in the next four matches will guarantee CSK a spot as 16 points has always been a cut-off for play-off qualification.
RCB’s sloppy fielding also contributed to their downfall. At 80 for 4 in the 13th over, CSK were in a spot of bother but Parthiv as usual was shoddy behind the stumps, dropping Dwayne Bravo (14 off 17 balls) off Murugan Ashwin.
TODAY’S MATCHES
Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders (1.30pm)
Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals (5.30pm)
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