Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Shikhar Dhawan plays a shot during his side’s IPL match against Mumbai Indians, yesterday.
Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan guided Sunrisers Hyderabad to a seven-wicket victory against Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here yesterday.
Dhawan was the hero of the match with his unbeaten 74, helping Sunrisers achieve the 130-run target in 18 overs.
It was the fourth consecutive win for Sunrisers on their home surface. They now have 12 points from 10 matches.
It was another impressive knock by Dhawan, who hit nine boundaries and a six in his 74 off 55 deliveries. The 27-year-old hit his second unbeaten half century in three matches he played in IPL-6.
The 74-run partnership for the third wicket between Dhawan and local boy Hanuma Vihari prevented the visitors from defending the low total on a slow-pitch.
Playing another valuable innings, Vihari scored 25 off 23 balls, including two hits to the fence.
Akshath Reddy (7 off 9 balls) departed early in the chase with Mitchel Johnson having him caught at covers by Smith. Skipper Sangakkara, who joined Dhawan, steadied the innings.
Under criticism for his poor form this season, the Sri Lankan played some confident shots, including two boundaries off Harbhajan Singh.
Dhawan, playing his first match at home ground, looked solid at the other end. For the second wicket they added 37 off 34 balls before Harbhajan sent Sangakkara (21 off 21) back with a return catch. From there on, the southpaw made the chase look easy.
Earlier, Mumbai managed 129 for four wickets in 20 overs on a slow pitch with Dwayne Smith being the highest scorer with 38 off 40 balls.
It was once again a good show by Hyderabad bowlers. They bowled with discipline and not allowed the powerful Mumbai batting a free run.
Ishant Sharma was impressive with figures of 4-1-15-2 while Amit Mishra, already one of the leading wicket takers in the tournament, claimed two for 34.
It was an unbeaten 50-run partnership (off 44 balls) for the fifth wicket between Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard which saw MI posting a respectable total after they were reduced to 74 for three in 13th over.
Local boy Ambati Rayudu scored 34 off 27 balls, which included four boundaries. Pollard was unbeaten on 14 off 19 balls.
Meanwhile, David Warner (66) guided Delhi Daredevils to a seven-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders at the SVNS International Stadium in Raipur.
Warner completed his half-century in 35 balls, with six 4s and three sixes.
Warner, along with Unmukt Chand (37) took on the KKR bowlers as the Delhi Daredevils recovered from early loses to register their second consecutive victory in Raipur. Warner and Chand formed 95-run partnership for the third wicket, which provided the platform for the triumph.
However, Chand fell in the 17th over to Brett Lee, with Delhi requiring only 15 more runs to win. Warner then took the responsibility to lead the Daredevils to home.
Delhi Daredevils were dealt with early blows when skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Virender Sehwag were dismissed in the powerplay.
Jacques Kallis took the first wicket of hard-hitting Sehwag (17) by bowling a length ball which the Delhi batsman edged to the fielder in the slip position.
Skipper Jayawardene was next man to walk back to the pavilion when he too edged a Laxmipathy Balaji delivery to the slips.
Earlier, a disciplined Delhi Daredevils bowlers restricted the Kolkata Knight Riders to a modest 136 runs.
Nothing seemed to be going Kolkata Knight Riders’ way as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals against the Daredevils.
Knight Riders were put under pressure from the beginning after their skipper Gautam Gambhir was run out in the first over by Irfan Pathan without even facing a ball.
Next to go was Manvinder Bisla (4). Umesh Yadav bowled a disciplined line and pitched up the ball to Bisla (4) who missed the shot and was bowled out. AGENCIES
