The Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled the curtains on the Delhi Daredevils’ chances of progressing to the Pepsi IPL 2015 Playoffs after they defeated the hosts by six runs in Raipur on Saturday. After posting 163 runs batting first, SRH fought off a spirited effort from the hosts to restrict them to 157-4 in their run chase.

Though DD lost opener Shreyas Iyer very early in the run chase, de Kock wrested back the initiative from the visitors in spectacular fashion. In his first outing in the competition, the South African played shots all round the wicket and dominated proceedings in the first eight overs. Before he was dismissed, stumped in the ninth over, he had scored 50 of the 60 runs on the board. The 22-year old was particularly severe on Ishant Sharma, hitting the lanky seamer for four boundaries and a six, and scoring 22 from 11 deliveries.

DD slipped to 66 for 4 when Yuvraj Singh and JP Duminy were dismissed in the space of three balls. Kedar Jadhav and Saurabh Tiwary, batting at five and six respectively, brought life back into the chase putting together a 91-run partnership. DD were very much on course at the start of the penultimate over needing 22 from 12 balls. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a fantastic over – the 19th of the innings, delivering the yorker repeatedly, and conceded only six singles. DD needed 16 off the final over, but only nine were added to the scoreboard. Jadhav hit eight boundaries and two sixes in his 34-ball 63, while Tiwary’s 25-ball 26 had two boundaries and a six.

For the visitors, Karn Sharma was the most successful of the bowlers; the leg-spinner bowled his three overs, returning figures of two for 12. The off-spinner Parvez Rasool and Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with identical figures of 4-0-20-1. Rasool picked up the prized scalp of Yuvraj Singh, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar was impressive right through, and particularly in the match-changing 19th over.

Earlier in the evening, after opting to bat, the Sunrisers Hyderabad scored in a second-gear pace for most part of their innings. The pitch by itself made stroke-making difficult, and the big boundaries meant it needed plenty of power to find the fence. The two openers – Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner – got off to a steady start adding 29 runs before both batsmen were dismissed in the space of two balls.

Moises Henriques dropped anchor and held the innings together. He was involved in three useful partnerships – 33 with Eoin Morgan, 35 with Karn Sharma and 64 with Ravi Bopara. At the 15-over mark, at which stage SRH were 99 for 4, Henriques had scored 28 from 27 balls. But in the final stretch of the innings, he shifted to over-drive seamlessly, pulling out the big hits from his repertoire; in the sixteenth over he hit Amit Mishra for a six over midwicket, hit back-to-back sixes off Albie Morkel in the nineteenth over, and then hit one straight down the ground off Zaheer Khan in the final over. One has appreciate and regard the running of the Australian; in his 46-ball knock, he ran 16 singles and 12 twos, apart from running other runs for his partners.

Henriques, who brought up his maiden IPL half-century off 39 balls, remained unbeaten on 74, aided with one boundary and five sixes. Courtesy his blitz towards the end, SRH finished their innings at 163 for 4. Morgan (22), Karn Sharma (16) and Ravi Bopara (17) were the other contributors for the visitors.

For the hosts Delhi Daredevils, debutant Jayant Yadav, who opened the bowling, finished with impressive figures of 1 for 19 from his four overs. Nathan Coulter-Nile returned the most successful bowler with figures of two for 25, while Zaheer Khan bowled his four overs for 1 for 33.

Brief Scores