Abhishek Sharma’s explosive unbeaten 135 and Eshan Malinga’s impressive four-wicket performance led Sunrisers Hyderabad to a commanding 47-run triumph over Delhi Capitals on Tuesday. After being asked to bat first, Abhishek smashed a brilliant 135 not out from 68 deliveries, propelling SRH to a formidable total of 242/2. The SRH bowling attack, spearheaded by Malinga’s outstanding figures of 4/32, then limited DC to 195/9. Abhishek’s exceptional knock, which included 10 boundaries and 10 maximums, guided the innings throughout, supported by valuable knocks from Travis Head (37) and Heinrich Klaasen (37*). A century from Abhishek and four wickets by Malinga lead to a convincing victory over Delhi .
TOSS
Delhi Capitals won the coin flip and chose to bowl first.
PLAYING XI
Delhi Capitals (Playing XI):
Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul(w), Sameer Rizvi, Nitish Rana, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel(c), David Miller, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, Lungi Ngidi
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI):
Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(c), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora(w), Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivang Kumar, Harsh Dubey, Sakib Hussain, Eshan Malinga
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
This marked just the eighth occasion when Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head made it through the Powerplay together – their second success this season – with 67 being their most modest Powerplay total across these eight partnerships. Accustomed to rapid half-centuries within the Powerplay, Abhishek managed 42 from 19 balls while Travis Head enjoyed a relatively measured start (23 from 17). Abhishek finally reached his half-century off 25 deliveries – during the ninth over – recording his most patient IPL fifty in Hyderabad, having hit just three maximums when achieving the milestone. Despite this controlled approach, the opening pair provided an energetic beginning, accumulating 97 runs within nine overs before Axar Patel dismissed Head.
The count of three sixes quickly multiplied to nine. While his opening fifty required 25 balls, the second came in merely 22. DC’s bowling attack faced relentless punishment as Abhishek raced to his century in 47 balls, his ninth in T20 cricket, equaling the record for most centuries by an Indian in this format. This hundred arrived in his 184th innings, making him the third-fastest to reach nine T20 centuries. He also achieved 350 T20 sixes during this knock. Kuldeep Yadav and Nitish Rana suffered the most from Abhishek’s assault, and by the 15th over’s conclusion, SRH had surged to 183. They did lose Ishan Kishan during this onslaught, with Rana smartly deflecting the ball onto the stumps to run out the SRH captain.
After hitting a boundary off T Natarajan on his 57th ball, Abhishek endured a dry spell until the final over’s fourth delivery, his 67th ball faced. The opener appeared to be tiring after his lengthiest IPL knock; his previous longest was a 55-ball 141 against Punjab Kings in Hyderabad last season. However, Heinrich Klaasen ensured SRH’s innings concluded with a flourish, smashing an unbeaten 37 from 13 balls featuring three sixes and three fours. Two of Klaasen’s maximums came off Ngidi during the 18th over, while two boundaries and a six off Mukesh Kumar in the final over produced 20 runs.
DELHI CAPITALS
Despite Pathum Nissanka’s early departure, DC began positively through Nitish Rana and KL Rahul. At the innings’ midpoint, DC had reached 107 – three runs ahead of SRH’s position. They scored 59 during the Powerplay, with Rahul and Rana consistently finding boundaries. Eshan Malinga also dropped a return catch, giving Rahul another chance. The century arrived in the 10th over when Rana hit Sakib Hussain for four to complete a rapid 27-ball fifty, though Rahul departed in the same over, hitting a full toss directly to deep backward square.
From 107 for 1, DC tumbled to 107 for 4 as Rana and David Miller fell quickly after Rahul’s exit. Malinga claimed both left-handed batsmen, with Rana’s attempted loft finding a diving Abhishek while Miller chopped onto his stumps.
Sameer Rizvi and Tristan Stubbs maintained the boundary flow while attempting to rebuild DC’s chase, reaching 155 for 4 after 15 overs. However, the asking rate had climbed to 17.6. Stubbs added more runs with consecutive fours off Malinga, but the Sri Lankan bowler prevailed, dismissing the South African who attempted one reverse-scoop too many. Harsh Dubey finally entered the attack in the 17th over as DC’s required rate reached 19. It escalated to 22 after that over and jumped to 28.5 following the 18th when Malinga concluded his spell by removing Ashutosh Sharma. Sakib delivered a disciplined over, sealing victory by conceding just 6 runs as DC needed 51 from the final over. Dubey claimed three wickets in the last over to wrap up a comprehensive SRH victory.
Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 242/2 in 20 overs [Abhishek Sharma 135* (68), Heinrich Klaasen 37* (13); Axar Patel 1-23] beat Delhi Capitals 195/9 in 20 overs [Nitish Rana 57 (30), Sameer Rizvi 41 (28); Eshan Malinga 4-32] by 47 runs.
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