“A win is always a good game,” said Hemang Badani, the batsman coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), after Aiden Markram’s Orange Army broke through Quila Kotla on Saturday night. He was moved by his team’s intention which helped them defeat Delhi Capitals (DC) at home, seeking perfect revenge for Monday’s defeat in Hyderabad.
The stars started lining up for SRH as soon as Markram won the draw and he decided to strike first. Promoting Abhishek Sharma in order was the King’s decision and it worked tremendously. The youngster threw a 67 from 36 balls, with assists from 12 boundary and six, setting the tone of the game for SRH. Later, a 53-run partnership between Heinrich Klaasen and Abdul Samad took the hosts to 197 for 6 from 20 overs. As the South African notched his first IPL fifty, scoring an unbeaten 53 on 27 deliveries, the Jammu hitter made a notable contribution of 28 runs on 21 balls.
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The target was stiff and with an ineffective group of Indian National hitters, it was always going to be a tall order for DC. Following an untimely dismissal from David Warner, the likes of Phil Salt and Mitch Marsh took center stage and changed the course of the prosecution. The Anglo-South duo launched an assault on Hyderabad’s bowling unit and it suddenly started raining sixes and bounds in Kotla. Umran Malik received the toughest treatment of all, getting hammered for 22 points in his only over.
The partnership had breached the 100 point barrier while Salt and Marsh appeared to cross the finish line with a fair amount of balls to spare. But then the strategic timeout kicked in, allowing the Sunrisers to revise their spin-bowling plans. Things started to fall into place for them as Mayank Markande came back to shake up Delhi by taking Salt out on a short ball while Akeal Hossein caught the big fish – Marsh – just after being crushed for a six. Once those big guns were back in the hut, the Delhi bat collapsed with the minus remaining for Axar Patel who walked to bat to the no. 7.
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Sunrisers Plan B
Marsh and Salt were hitting the SRH bowlers with the back foot. The think tank noticed the pattern and during the strategic break a simple message was conveyed to bowlers – shorten the length and get Delhi batters out of their comfort zone.
It was indeed a tense situation in the SRH dugout when Marsh and Salt scored at a gallop. Responding to a query from News18 Cricketnext, Badani admitted the men in orange were a little concerned.
“I would be lying if I said we weren’t thoughtful. We were worried to see that they were scoring, they were hitting at a good pace. But then we had a break during the 8th over, the timeout, and the message given to the bowlers was that these batters were looking to play the back foot and we were giving them that, maybe the length was slightly shorter, Badani told the post-match presser.
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The SRH batting coach praised debutant Akeal Hossein who left a massive impact with Marsh’s wicket. The young West Indies spinner was credited for recalling right after being run over out of the park. On the next delivery, he changed his line a bit and Marsh ended up playing a badly timed shot only to get caught by Markram near extra coverage.
“What we tried to convey to the guys on the pitch was to be able to play a bit slower; to spin the ball or bowl a little higher. I have to give Akeal full points as he was hit for a six in the previous delivery. But it was pretty much the same ball, probably the line was a little straighter but the length was still in place. And with that, I feel like the ball got a bit turned and then we got the better of Marsh,” Badani added.
“In these kinds of games, I’ve seen that when you have a partnership going and you’re able to break one, then the floodgates are open and there’s a chance things will open up,” said he added.
Delhi campaign almost over
DC continues to be in 10th place with just 2 wins in their prize pool. Even if they win all of their remaining matches, they will have 16 points at the end, which won’t be enough to take them to the top four. However, one more loss will surely shatter their playoff hopes. On the other hand, Hyderabad moved up to 7th, overtaking Mumbai Indians with better net run rate.
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