Brought in for his first game of the tournament, Kiwi skipper leads Sunrisers to 15-run win despite rare Warner failure
The result: Sunrisers Hyderabad 4-191 (Williamson 89, Morris 4-26) defeated Delhi Daredevils 5-176 (Iyer 50no, Siraj 2-39) by 15 runs.
The match in a tweet: Rare Warner failure leaves door open for Williamson to demolish Delhi Daredevils with T20 masterclass in his first IPL10 outing.
Kane’s carnage: In a side full to the brim with top-order talent, Kane Williamson has struggled to break into the established Sunrisers Hyderabad line-up. But six games in he was afforded an opportunity and the New Zealand skipper did not disappoint. Replacing Afghani Mohammad Nabi, Williamson started slowly, hitting just one boundary in his first 17 balls faced, but then sparked the fireworks, blasting Sri Lankan Angelo Mathews for consecutive sixes before turning on Pat Cummins and Amit Mishra, reaching 89 from 51 balls before Morris had the right-hander caught in the deep to a superb diving effort from Shreyas Iyer. His five sixes equalled his career-high in Twenty20 cricket.
Image Id: DE73799CDB1340B7A393F427ECDFF5C6 Image Caption: Warner and Williamson celebrate the Sunrisers' win // BCCI
The rare miss: David Warner has started this year's IPL on fire but he had a rare failure against Delhi. The IPL's leading run-scorer this season, the left-hander reached four before trying to flick a ball from outside off and Amit Mishra completed the simple catch at square-leg. It was the first time in 17 starts that Warner has failed to reach double figures in the IPL. The Sunrisers captain was averaging 78.3 with the bat in this IPL before tonight’s knock and will be looking to rectify his rare miss against Pune on Saturday.
The century stand: Big partnerships are all too common in Twenty20 cricket but what made the partnership of 136 between Shikhar Dhawan (70) and Williamson so special is that it is the first century stand in Sunrisers' IPL history not to feature David Warner. The pair combined for 13 boundaries and six maximums in a 14-over bombardment of the Delhi bowlers, after Warner departed early. Dhawan now features alongside Warner in four of Hyderabad's 11 century-stands, with Williamson notching his second triple-figure partnership for the franchise.
Image Id: 64EF21227B434B4EA2785C3756577D61 Image Caption: Dhawan and Williamson put on Hyderabad's 11th century partnership // BCCI
Morris mayhem: South African Chris Morris’ stellar IPL run has continued, rising to second on the competition's wicket-taking charts. Morris claimed the wickets of Warner, Dhawan, Williamson and Yuvraj Singh, etching himself into the record books by becoming just the second bowler to capture all four of an opposition's side's wickets. The Protea now sits just three wickets behind Sunrisers’ quick Bhuvneshwar Kumar (15 scalps for the tournament) for the IPL’s Purple Cap.
The Aussie pack: Warner’s batting failed to light up the Rajiv Ghandi crowd but his captaincy will earn him plaudits, rotating through his world-class spinners and quicks with aplomb. Moises Henriques was serviceable for Hyderabad, contributing an unbeaten 12 from six balls before sending three overs down at just over 10-a-piece, with Pat Cummins faring little better, giving up 37 runs from his allotted overs and being unrequired with the bat.
The wash-up: Both sides will need to pack their bags for their next outing, with the Sunrisers heading to Pune for a clash with the Steve Smith-led Supergiant on Saturday night, before the Delhi Daredevils take on the red-hot Mumbai Indians on Sunday with both teams looking to entrench themselves in the top-four.
