Dhawan, Williamson overshadowed Pant's ton

Rishabh Pant's maiden IPL ton went in vain as Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson's unbeaten 176-run stand off 102 balls for the second wicket helped Sunrisers Hyderabad to beat Delhi Daredevils by 9-wickets at Firoz Shah Kotla, Delhi on Wednesday (May 10).

Delhi Daredevils after winning the toss, post a big total of 187 after 20 overs. Thanks to Pant's 128* off 63 balls. But Dhawan and Williamson overshadowed Pant's blitzing knock by the 176-runs stand. SRH chased down the target comfortably in the end with 7 balls to spare.



The Rishabh Pant show at Kotla

Delhi Daredevils decision to bat after winning toss seemed to backfire them as they lost first three wickets on 43 inside 8 overs. But it was Pant who not only help DD to recover from those early blows but also gave them a total that was not looking even near after first 10 overs. Pant didn't take much time to get going despite DD kept losing wickets. He hit three back to back boundaries to Siddarth Kaul. However, after hitting those boundaries, he stuck to 1s and 2s in next 3-4 overs. But once the halfway mark crossed, he started hitting again and never looked back after that. He took on number 1 T20 bowler Rashid Khan in his second over for 15 runs. He reached to his fifty with a six to Shakib Al Hasan. He celebrated this with a six to Kaul in next over followed by a four and six to Rashid Khan. But the highlight of his innings was those hit which he hit to Bhuvneshawar Kumar in 18th and 20th over. In those overs, he collected 43 runs off 11 balls with 4 sixes and 4 fours. While in this process, he reached to his maiden IPL century off just 56 balls and became the second youngest to score an IPL century.

However, despite Pant's 128, none of the other batsmen could contribute much. He single-handedly lifted DD to 187 after 20 overs.



Dhawan and Williamson made 188 a cake walk

Sunrisers Hyderabad needed a solid start to win this match but Harshal Patel provided Delhi a big breakthrough as he got Alex Hales out LBW in second over on 15. Hales scored 14 off 10 with three fours. However, it was the only wicket DD could manage as Dhawan and skipper Williamson didn't give any chance going further in this match. Both Dhawan and Williamson played their shots in the gap without taking any risk. None of the DD pacers could able to put pressure on either player. Dhawan reached to his fifty off 30 balls with the help of boundary to Harshal Patel. Without taking too much risk, he was able to get boundaries on regular basis. However, he celebrated his fifty with two sixes to Shahbaz Nadeem in 13th over.

On the other hand, Williamson was calmer and composed than Dhawan. He was playing a supporting role of Dhawan but somehow he was able to find boundaries. However, he reached to his fifty off just 37 balls with a boundary to Trent Boult. He changed his gear after fifty and hit a six and four to Plunket and Patel in next two overs. He hit winning runs by hitting back to back fours to Boult and finished the game with more than one over to spare. Both Dhawan and Williamson remained not out on 92 and 83 respectively. Dhawan awarded Man Of The Match for his match-winning knock.



No mercy for bowlers on such day

It was one of those days when no bowler wants to bowl. When Rishabh Pant was batting, he took every bowler all over the park. But despite being the merciless day for bowlers, Shakib Al Hasan and Sandeep Sharma were the only bowlers whose economy rate was under seven. Shakib who removed both the DD's openers conceded only 27 runs in 4 overs. While Sandeep Sharma gave away only 24 runs in 4 overs without taking a wicket. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who gave just 7 runs in first two overs, went for 44 runs in his last two overs. His figure 4-0-52-1 is the second worst figure in IPL.

On the other hand, none of the DD's bowler could make his mark and went for plenty. Trent Boult conceded 43 runs in 3.5 overs while Liam Plunket went for 41 runs in 4 overs. The only successful bowler was Patel who dismissed Hales, given away 32 runs in 4 overs.

Achievements for the players

Rishabh Pant becomes the youngest player to reach 1000 IPL runs (20y 218d).

Pant is the only second youngest player to score IPL century (First was Manish Pandey).

176* is the only 3rd-century stand for SRH in which Warner wasn't involved (All three is between Dhawan and Williamson).

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