IPL 2019 Eliminator: Delhi Capitals Vs SunRisers Hyderabad

Delhi Capitals (DC) almost lost the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, but survived a drama-filled last over to set up a Qualifier 2 date with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Heroes everywhere for Delhi. Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Keemo Paul, Amit Mishra (not for obstructing the field, but for bowling), skipper Shreyas Iyer (for trying to play it fair)...

For Hyderabad, this is their third defeat in the Eliminators after 2013 and 2017.

Brief Scores:

SRH: 162/8 (Martin Guptill 36 off 19 balls, Keemo Paul 3/34).
DC: 165/8 in 19.5 overs (Rishabh Pant 49 off 21 balls, Prithvi Shaw 56 off 38).

Playing XIs:

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Colin Munro, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Axar Patel, Keemo Paul, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Trent Boult
SunRisers Hyderabad: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Martin Guptill, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson (c), Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Deepak Hooda, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, K Khaleel Ahmed, Basil Thampi

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Delhi Capitals Innings, Target 163 Runs

11:23 PM IST: Trent Boult is the new man.Then what? Keemo Paul breaks SunRisers Hyderabad hearts. A pull shot for a four to mid-wicket. Delhi win by two wickets with one ball to spare.

11:21 PM IST: Second review and it's out. 161/8 (19.4 Over). Two needed from two. Mishra is out for the field obstruction.

11:19 PM IST: Khaleel Ahmed with the last over. A slower delivery to Amit Mishra, and a wide, well outside. A single down the third man. Three required from five. A dot to Keemo Paul. Then a single to mid-wicket. Two needed from three. One leg bye and the possibility of an out for field obstruction. Amit Mishra changes the track while running to block the throw. Seems like the umpires going for caught behind, not the obstruction. And the drama continues. These umpires.

11:12 PM IST: And Rishabh Pant is not wasting time. Caution needed but he laces on to the length delivery, and a six over long off. A wide, for height. Five needed now. And he goes for a mighty swing, and pays the price. Holes out at mid-off, caught by Mohammad Nabi. And Ricky Ponting just left his seat at the dugout. Angry. FoW-158/7 (18.5 Over). Amit Mishra is the new man. Seven runs from the over. Pant made 49 off 21. Bhuvi's figures: 2/42. Delhi need five from six.

11:06 PM IST: Bhuvneshwar Kumar on with his last over. Wicket off the first ball. Rutherford caught at long-off by Mohammad Nabi. FoW-151/6 (18.1 Over). Keemo Paul is the new man.

11:04 PM IST: Basil Thampi on with his last over. Rishabh Pant hits the first ball for a four, down the ground. Pant follows it up with a six, thumped over over deep mid-wicket. Another four, to long leg boundary. Then, another six. This time over mid-wicket. 34 needed from 18 at the start of the over, now it's 14 from 14. A single, to mid-wicket. Another single, and 22 runs from the over. The over that changed the fortunes of Delhi? DC-151/5 after 18 overs. 12 needed from 12. Pant on 43 off 17. Thampi's figures: 0/41.

10:59 PM IST: New man Sherfane Rutherford hits Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six, off the fifth ball, over long-off. Eight runs from the over. DC-129/5 after 17 overs.

10:50 PM IST: Mohammad Nabi also completes his spell. Ten runs from his last over. His figures: 0/29. Pant hits the fifth ball for a six over long leg boundary. DC-121/5 after 16 overs. 42 runs required from 24 balls. Time out.

10:47 PM IST: Rashid Khan is the game changer. Gets two wickets in the space of four balls to send Colin Munro, off the first ball and Axar Patel, off the fourth balls. Sherfane Rutherford is the new man. Double-wicket maiden over. Rashid's figures: 2/15. And there's still debate over Patel's wicket. DC-111/5 after 15 overs. That's Nelson again, striking.

10:42 PM IST: Big over for Delhi. 12 runs from Basil Thampi's third over. Colin Munro launches the fifth ball for a six over deep backward square boundary. Earlier in the over, he hit the second ball for a four off the second ball. DC-111/3 after 14 overs.

10:36 PM IST: Rashid Khan on with his third over. Just two runs from it. DC-93/3 after 13 overs.

10:31 PM IST: Colin Munro is the new man for Delhi. Mohammad Nabi returns for his third over. Ten runs from the over. Rishabh Pant hits the fourth ball for a six over long on. Huge one, some 91 metres. DC-97/3 after 12 overs.

10:28 PM IST: Khaleel Ahmed returns for his second over. A single off the first ball then he sends back Delhi captain Shreyas Iyer, caught behind. FoW-84/2 (10.2 Over). Iyer made eight off 10. Rishabh Pant is the new man. Ahmed then gets the wicket of Prithvi Shaw, caught at point by Vijay Shankar. Shaw made 56 off 38. Four runs from the over. Fow-87/3 (10.6 Over). Delhi need 76 runs required from 54 balls.

10:20 PM IST: Basil Thampi returns for his second over. Six runs from the over. DC-83/1 after 10 overs. They need 80 runs from 60 balls.

10:16 PM IST: Rashid Khan on with his second over. Seven runs from the over. Two singles, a wide and a four, hit by Shreyas Iyer behind point. DC-77/1 after nine overs.

10:31 PM IST: Shreyas Iyer is the new man. A single to fine leg, then Prithvi Shaw gets his fifty with a single off the last ball, in 31 balls. 13 runs from the over. DC-70/1 after eight overs.

10:09 PM IST: Deepak Hooda, off spinner, gets his first over. A single, then a six as Prithvi Shaw continues to punish SHR bowlers. A single then the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan. Wide and Wriddhiman Saha does the rest. Brilliant work. FoW-66/1 (7.3 Over). Dhawan made 17 off 16. Time out.

10:04 PM IST: Basil Thampi gets his first over. Just two singles, off the first and fourth balls. DC-57/0 after seven overs.

9:59 PM IST: Rashid Khan on with his second over. Six runs from the over. A four off the fifth ball, hit by Prithvi Shaw, hit brilliantly through cover. DC-55/0 after six overs. 108 runs required from 14 overs.

9:55 PM IST: Huge over for Delhi. Prithvi Shaw toys with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, hitting the World Cup-bound pacer for a four, a six and a four off the successive balls. 17 runs from the over. DC-49/0 after five overs.

9:51 PM IST: Mohammad Nabi continues with his second over. Seven runs from the over. Basil Thampi drops Prithvi Shaw at mid-off the second ball, then Shikhar Dhawan hits the last ball for a four. DC-32/0 after four overs.

9:48 PM IST: Khaleel Ahmed, right-arm medium pacer, gets his first over. Prithvi Shaw hits the second, third and fifth balls for fours. 13 runs from the over. DC-25/0 after three overs. They need 138 runs.

9:43 PM IST: Two runs from Mohammad Nabi's first over. The offspinner is brilliant, controlling Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw with a tight line. DC-12/0 after two overs.

9:39 PM IST: Bhuvneshwar Kumar opens the proceedings. 10 runs from his first over. Shikhar Dhawan hits the third and four balls for fours.

SunRisers Hyderabad Innings

9:20 PM IST: Keemo Paul on with the last over of the innings. A wide to Deepak Hooda, then a single. A dot, then a six off no ball, front foot. Mohammad Nabi launches it over long on. A dot from the free hit. Paul then gets the wicket. Nabi caught at backward point by Axar Patel. Nabi made 20 off 13. FoW-160/6 (19.4 Over). Rashid Khan is the man. A wide, then a run out as Rishabh Pant hits the stumps at the non-striker's end even as Deepak Hooda gets tangled with the bowler. Given out. But Shreyas Iyer asks for the batsman to continue, then Pant intervenes to stat that it's valid run-out. Part of the game. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the new man, and Rashid Khan is out. Caught behind. New man Basil Thampi gets a single to end the innings. 11 runs from the over. Paul's figures: 3/32. SRH-162/8 after 20 overs.

9:09 PM IST: Trent Boult returns for his third over. Vijay Shankar lofts the first ball for a four, inside out, over extra cover. Then a six as Shreyas Iyer fails to reverse flick the ball for onrushing Shikhar Dhawan at wide long-off. But Boult gets his man, caught at deep midwicket by Axar Patel. 25 off 11 for Shankar. FoW-147/5 (18.3 Over). Deepak Hooda is the new man, and he gets a double, to square leg. A wide, then a single to long on. 14 runs from the over. SRH-151/5 after 19 overs.

9:03 PM IST: Keemo Paul returns for his third over. A dot ball, then Mohammad Nabi smashes the second ball for a four. Straight. Paul responds with a bouncer. A single, then a four to backward square leg and Vijay Shankar picks the bouncer early and puts it away beautifully. A single, to long off. 10 runs from the over. SRH-137/4 after 18 overs. 44 runs in the last four overs.

8:58 PM IST: Axar Patel with his last over. A single to Vijay Shankar, to long off. Mohammad Nabi plays another delicate late cut, beat the fielder at short third man for a four. A dot, then a single. Shankar launches the last ball for a six over deep mid-wicket. His first boundary. 12 runs from the over. Patel's figures: 0/30. SRH-127/4 after 17 overs.

8:55 PM IST: Ishant Sharma returns for his last over. Two singles, then one leg bye. Kane Williamson hits the fourth ball for a four at deep backward square leg. Trent Boult gives his all, but fails to reach to the ball. Then an unplayable yorker to dismiss Williamson. Nelson strikes. FoW-111/4 (15.5 Over). Williamson made 28 off 27 balls. hard-hitting Mohammad Nabi is the new man. But the Afghan cricketer gets a four off the first ball with a very delicate touch, to third man. 11 runs from the over. Ishant's figures: 2/34. SRH-115/4 after 16 overs.

8:48 PM IST: Sherfane Rutherford gets his first over. Kane Williamson hits the third ball for a four to sweeper cover, his first in 21 balls. Some time coming. A deft touch to drop the ball and a quick single. Following up, Rutherford kicks the ball for a run-out attempt bu results in one overthrow run. Williamson plays the last ball over short third man for a double. 11 runs from the over. SRH-104/3 after 15 overs.

8:42 PM IST: Five runs from Keemo Paul's second over. SRH-93/3 after 14 overs. Vijay Shankar is the new man.

8:38 PM IST: Keemo Paul returns for his second over, and he gets the wicket of Manish Pandey. Mistimed shot and Manish Pandey is caught at long on by Sherfane Rutherford. FoW-90/3 (13.3 Over). Pandey made 30 off 36. Time out.

8:33 PM IST Amit Mishra on with his last over. Hyderabad happy with singles. Six off six. SRH-88/2 after 13 overs. Very slow rebuilding. But a very good spell from Mishra. 1/16. Rashid Khan must be smacking his lips.

8:29 PM IST: Axar Patel on with his third over. A single to point off the first ball. Rishabh Pant makes it looks like a very good stumping, but Manish Pandey's backfoot firmly planted. A four off the third ball, to square third man. Seven runs from the over. SRH-82/2 after 12 overs.

8:26 PM IST: Amit Mishra on with his third over. A single off the first ball, to point. Two dots, including a dropped catch off the third. Very difficult for wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. Kane Williamson takes a single off the fourth, to long on. Four runs from the over. SRH-75/2 after 11 overs.

8:22 PM IST: Axar Patel returns for his second over. Tidy spell. Four singles. 17 runs in the last four overs. SRH-71/2 after 10 overs.

8:19 PM IST: Amit Mishra continues with his second over. Just two runs, a double off the first ball as Manish Pandey plays it to mid-wicket. SRH-67/2 after nine overs.

8:16 PM IST: Keemo Paul on and he's spraying. A single off the first ball as Kane Williamson plays it towards square leg. Two wides, down the leg side. Another wide, then a dot to end the over. Seven runs from it. SRH-65/2 after eight overs.

8:10 PM IST: Amit Mishra, who spent some good times with Sunil Gavaskar before the start of the match, strikes in his first over. And what a wicket. Martin Guptill takes a single off the first ball, another as Manish Pandey rotates the strike. Mishra then gets the wicket of Guptill. The Kiwi sweeps but fails to middle it and Keemo Paul takes a good catch at deep mid-wicket. Guptill made 36 from 19. FoW-56/2 (6.3 Over). Kane Williamson is the new man. Four runs from the over. SRH-58/2 after even overs.

8:02 PM IST: Ishant Sharma continues with his third over, on the trot. And horrendous fielding from Delhi captain Shreyas Iyer. Sensing a run-out, he takes off eyes from the ball it misses the ball at mid-off. Four from the misfield. Pandey thus gets his first four. A dot, then two singles. Fifty up in 34 balls. Another four for Pandey top edge and lands just inside the fine leg boundary. 10 runs from the over. SRH-54/1 after six overs. And time out.

7:36 PM IST: Axar Patel, left-arm spinner, gets his first over. Three dots to Manish Pandey, then a single. Martin Guptill hits the fifth ball, little short, over deep square leg. Stunning. Seven runs from the over. SRH-44/1 after five overs. Guptill is on 33 off 16.

7:53 PM IST Ishant Sharma continues with his second over and a wicket off the first ball. He had Wriddhiman Saha caught at mid-off by Shreyas Iyer. FoW-31/1 (3.1 Over). That was Ishant's eighth wicket in Power Play this season, joint second with Harbhajan Singh and behind Deepak Chahar (13). Saha made eight off nine. Manish Pandey is the new man. Ishant strays down the leg, and Martin Guptill finds the gap at fine leg for a four off the fourth ball. Six runs from the over. SRH-37/1 after four overs.

7:46 PM IST: Trent Boult continues with his second over. Wriddhiman Saha takes a single off the second ball, followed by a double from Martin Guptill, to fine leg. Guptill hits the next two balls for sixes, one-handed off the fifth over cover, then over point. SRH-31/0 after three overs.

7:42 PM IST: Ishant Sharma on with the second over. Very good start, two singles from the first four balls. Then, Martin Guptill hits the fifth ball for a six over long-on. Eight runs from the over. SRH-16/9 after two overs.

7:36 PM IST: What a start. Mighty relief for Wriddhiman Saha. Bruce Oxenford thinks it's plumb. But Saha convinced it's not so, after a brief with his opening partner Martin Guptill, and he saves himself with a timely review. Deflection and height too. Saha then hits Trent Boult for a four off the last ball through off, beating Axar Patel. Eight runs from the over.

7:09 PM IST: Meanwhile, in the Women's T20 Challenge, Mithali Raj-led Velocity defeated Smriti Mandhana's Trailblazers by three wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium a little while ago.

7:04 PM IST: One changes each. Delhi bring in Colin Munro for Colin Ingram. For Hyderabad, Deepak Hooda comes in for Yusuf Pathan.

7:02 PM IST: Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer wins the toss and opts to bowl first.

6:51 PM IST: In the 14 previous meetings, SRH have won nine times. But this season, it's 1-1.

6:45 PM IST: Here are the predicted XIs

Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Colin Ingram, Sherfane Rutherford, Axar Patel, Keemo Paul, Trent Boult, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma

SunRisers Hyderabad: Martin Guptill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson (c), Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma

6:33 PM IST: For both the teams, the prospects of playing three-time champions and the most consistent team in the history of IPL, Chennai Super Kings for a spot in the final is overwhelming indeed. But, they first need to focus on the task at hand. And that brings us to the key battles.

Shikhar Dhawan vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Delhi opener, who is an SRH legend, failed in the last two matches but overall, the season has been good for him. He is expected to have a key battle against Bhuvneswhar Kumar. The left-arm pacer is struggling to find his usual rhythm but is a match winner.

Manish Pandey vs Amit Mishra: After the departure of Jonny Bairstow and David Warner, SRH have relied heavily on their middle-order talisman Manish Pandey. The right-handed batsman will be up against wily Amit Mishra, who has done well in the limited opportunities that came his way.

Rashid Khan vs Shreyas Iyer: Rashid Khan has a poor season by his standard, but the spin wizard from Afghanistan is known for producing the goods when it matters. DC captain Shreyas Iyer will be wary of the Rashid's guile. It will be a fascinating battle.

Trent Boult vs Kane Williamson: Another fascinating battle will be the one involving the Kiwis Boult and Williamson. Boult came into the picture only after Kagiso Rabada's unfortunate sidelining, but he still is one of the best left-arm pacers. And against Williamson, his national captain, Boult will be eager to give more than his 100 percent.

Then what about the likes of Rishabh Pant, Khaleel Ahmed, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, etc. They all have their own battles to fight for.

6:16 PM IST: Here are the squads

Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Colin Ingram, Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Ankush Bains, Chris Morris, Sherfane Rutherford, Jalaj Saxena, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nathu Singh, Bandaru Ayyappa, Colin Munro, Manjot Kalra.

SunRisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, T Natarajan, Ricky Bhui, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Shreevats Goswami, Khaleel Ahmed, Yusuf Pathan, Billy Stanlake, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Shakib Al Hasan, Wriddhiman Saha, Martin Guptill, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma and Shahbaz Nadeem.

6:10 PM IST: In the league stage, there were no clear winners. SRH won in Delhi by five wickets, while DC returned the favour by winning the return leg at Hyderabad by 39 runs. And now they are up against each other in a neutral ground, which is known for producing low-scoring thrillers in IPL. SRH, however, will feel confident considering the fact that Vizag used to be their second home in the previous seasons.

Form guide (latest first)

Delhi Capitals beat Rajasthan Royals by five wickets, lost to Chennai Super Kings by 80 runs, beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 16 runs;
SunRisers Hyderabad lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by four wickets, lost Mumbai Indians, beat Kings XI Punjab by 45 runs

6:00 PM IST: Delhi fought for a top-two finish but with heavyweights Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings also in the fray, it was a tough challenge, and they came third best in a three-way fight. Now, they are looking for a way to sneak into their maiden final.

Talking about sneaking, Hyderabad snuck into the playoffs courtesy a frenetic dash towards the end of the league phase. Now, they find themselves once again fighting for the second successive final.