IPL 2018: Pant's 128 in vain as SRH hand DD humiliating 9-wicket defeat

Rishabh Pant's 128 went in vain as Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson won the match for Sunrisers Hyderabad with comfort. SRH confirm their place in playoffs

In the 42nd match of the VIVO Indian Premier League 2018 (IPL 2018) , Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Delhi Daredevils by 9 wickets at the Firoz Shah Kota stadium in Delhi, hitting a perfect purple patch. With this, Hyderabad ended Delhi's chances for playoffs too. SRH retain their top spot on the VIVO IPL 2018 points table. After Rishabh Pant wreaked havoc on SRH bowlers that propelled Delhi's score to 187 runs, it was Hyderabad's time to hand a strong reply. Master at defending low totals, SRH had a different challenge today, a long chase ahead of them and they pulled a composed one. Earlier, Delhi Daredevils won the toss and decided to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Delhi's entire inning revolved around one man --Rishabh Pant, who made a spectacular century and bailed out his team. No bowler could escape his wrath, even Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Pant emerged past everything to make a mark. No matter what, he had everyone chanting his name in the stadium and was a sheer spectacle. Delhi openers Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy were dismissed in consecutive deliveries by Shakib Al Hasan. Just as Delhi was on the road to recovery, Pant committed a blunder by denying a run to Shreyas Iyer at the eleventh hour, he was too late to return to the crease.

Along with Hyderabad, Rishabh Pant continued to give a hard time to his own teammates who were struggling to coordinate with him for running between the wickets. Pant committed another error during running between the wicket, Harshal Patel had to pay the price this time. Finding himself Guilty for the gaffes, Pant vented his anger on bowlers. He only settled for a century. Just as Hyderabad got on the job, Harshal Patel removed Alex Hales. Things went in Delhi's direction till that far only, after that, it was Hyderabad's show. Dhawan got into the role soon and smashed some powerful boundaries. Hyderabad had taken a lead in the match by denying any wicket after the first blow. Dhawan and Williamson saw no resistance whatsoever from any bowler. Dhawan and Williamson raised their bats for their fifty respectively. The lacklustre bowling proved harmful and the match had become a one-sided affair.

Sunrisers Hyderabad innings update: Over by over

Sunrisers Hyderabad playing XI for today's match: Alex Hales, Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson(c), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami (w), Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma. Change: Shreevats Goswami comes in for Saha.

Over 1: Trent Boult into the attack, superb line. Well controlled. First runs on the board, Hales takes a double. Flicks for four. Brilliant four. SRH: 6-0

Over 2: Harshal Patel is in the attack. Single to Dhawan. Hales cuts for four, it was in the air but a little too wide for the fielder at point. Poor line by Harshal, pulled for four. Brilliant yorker, plumb, right in front of the stumps. Hales goes for 14. Kane Williamson is the new man in. Single to end the over. SRH: 16-1 (more)