SRH VS DC MATCH 34

Right then, a new week in the 2023 Indian T20 League kicks off with a humdinger of a game and now 8 of the last 11 games have gone to the final delivery or thereabouts. The action now moves to Ahmedabad on Tuesday, the 25th of April as Gujarat take on Mumbai in a clash of the western giants. That game will begin at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT) but our build-up will begin much sooner. Cheers!

Axar Patel is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his brilliant all-round showing with bat and ball. He starts by saying that the 34 runs with the bat were more important than the two wickets. Adds that he couldn't understand what happened as he just ordered a coffee, but before it got delivered they lost three wickets in the same over and he quickly padded up. Tells that it took him time to take it in and the plan was to take it deep along with Manish Pandey to at least give them a chance of defending it. Says that the wicket wasn't that easy to bat on and ends by saying that he enjoyed the wicket of Mayank Agarwal more when asked about his two dismissals.

David Warner, the captain of Delhi says that he loves it here and the crowd is amazing and goes on to thank the fans for hanging around. Adds that this is why they play the game and it is great for them to get the two points. Goes on to credit Mukesh Kumar for the way he bowled and mentions that their two spinners have been the rock for them. On Ishant Sharma, he says that Ishant told him from day one that he was ready and unfortunately he fell sick a couple of games back but was brilliant in this game. Ends by saying that a lot of teams still have more points than them and for them, it is about resetting and going again.

The Presentation ceremony...

Anrich Nortje is down for a quick chat. He says that he is happy to get the win. Adds that it was not the ideal performance as they would have liked a few more runs but the bowlers did well. Tells that the spinners were good in the middle overs and the pacers also did the job. Mentions that the message at the break was to bowl on the good length. Says that he was a little bit off in this game, but got away with it in the end. Ends by saying that Mukesh Kumar had a very clear plan and was focused and executed it perfectly which was really inspiring.

Aiden Markram, the captain of Hyderabad says that there was not enough intent with the bat and they let themselves down again. Adds that they need to go back and see how to chase better and play more freely. Mentions that they want to play a certain brand of cricket, but they lacked intent. Tells that he enjoys cheering up the guys, but they also need to understand what works for them. Credits the bowlers for their amazing performance and says they used the conditions well and that was the only positive in this game.

Earlier in the game, David Warner won the toss and opted to bat on a surface that wasn't the easiest one to bat on and right from the get-go, the batters struggled a bit. Philip Salt fell first ball after which Mitchell Marsh came in and started blasting the ball away but once he fell, things went downhill for Delhi. Washington Sundar picked up three wickets in a single over and Delhi were in a bit of a fix. The stand between Manish Pandey and Axar Patel proved to be decisive as both batters went on to score 30-plus runs and managed to take the score above 140 runs. Apart from Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was exceptional with the ball for Hyderabad as he picked up a couple of wickets giving away hardly any runs. Coming to the chase, it was engrossing from start to finish as Delhi held their nerve and did enough through the middle phase with the ball to pick up their second win of the season.

Hyderabad will be gutted with that loss but all of the blame has to go to that batting lineup which just didn't have enough intent in it. Harry Brook continued to struggle against the new ball and got out cheaply and after that, Rahul Tripathi too played a sluggish knock. Mayank Agarwal did start well and looked to be in a good flow out there but with wickets falling and his partners unable to score runs quickly, he fell on 49 trying to up the ante. Hyderabad seemed to be falling well short but the duo of Heinrich Klaasen and Washington Sundar did shift gears toward the end only to end up on the losing side as the batters above them just didn't do enough.

Delhi seemed certainly 15-20 runs short at the interval with only 144 runs on the board but they have defended a low score in fine fashion. Ishant Sharma bowled a lovely spell up top and so did Anrich Nortje who got rid of a struggling Harry Brook. The spinners then came on and kept on the pressure from both ends, not letting the boundaries to flow. The spin duo of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav got three wickets in between them and were highly economical too. Nortje bowled well at the death as well and even though Mukesh Kumar got a bit of stick in his second over, he came back in to bowl a fantastic final over and sealed the win for his team.

What a final over from Mukesh Kumar under pressure and Delhi have now gone on to win back-to-back games! This could be a huge season-changing win for Delhi but for Hyderabad, it is yet another tough loss at home.

Mukesh Kumar ends with another excellent yorker! This one is on middle, Marco Jansen only manages to jam it out towards mid off. DELHI WIN BY 7 RUNS!

No he can't! Thsi is pitched and on middle, Washington Sundar heaves it on the bounce, but the deep mid-wicket fielder mops it up. Only a run taken! They should have gone for the second at all cost there. Marco Jansen though it was going for a boundary and did not run that hard. This is Delhi's game now!

A low full toss, on leg, angling in, Marco Jansen clips it towards deep mid-wicket for a run. Can Washington Sundar hit a boundary on the next ball?

Fuller and on middle, Washington Sundar slogs it, but straight to long on for just a single.

Top class bowling! Mukesh Kumar absolutely nails the yorker around off, Washington Sundar is too late to put his bat down in time, and misses. 11 runs needed in 4 balls now!

Full and on off, Washington Sundar drives it firmly wide of sweeper covers for a couple of runs.

Who will bowl the final over? Ishant Sharma or Mukesh Kumar? It will be Mukesh Kumar who went for 15 runs in his previous over and Delhi will also have an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle as a penalty for not getting the overs completed on time. Can Mukesh defend 12 runs here?