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TATA IPL 2024: SRH Triumphs Over DC by 67 Runs: Travis, Natarajan Shine
Sunrisers Hyderabad maintained their trend of aggressive batting in IPL 2024, with Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma showcasing dazzling stroke-play to establish a commanding lead, resulting in a convincing 67-run victory over Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
On a calm pitch, Head (82 off 39 balls) and Abhishek (46 off 12 balls) mesmerized spectators by hitting 24 boundaries during their explosive 131-run opening partnership in just 38 balls, propelling SRH to a massive total of 266/7. This marked the fourth-highest total in IPL history and the third time SRH breached the 250+ mark. In response, Natarajan showcased excellent yorkers, claiming a superb 4-19 as DC were dismissed for 199. The lone highlight for DC was young Jake Fraser-McGurk, who scored the fastest fifty of the season in just 15 balls.
Impact player Prithvi Shaw began DC’s chase by smashing Washington Sundar for four boundaries on first four balls. But Sundar had the last laugh as Shaw miscued a loft to cover. David Warner didn’t do much as a leading edge off Bhuvneshwar Kumar was caught by a diving Pat Cummins at mid-off.
Fraser-McGurk brought out his clean bat swing by whacking Sundar for three sixes and as many fours in the third over to collect 30 runs. With Abishek Porel hitting three boundaries from the other end, Fraser-McGurk backed away to drill Pat Cummins for four and then got down on one knee to hit a lofted drive over mid-on for six as 20 runs came off the fifth over.
After amassing 88/2 in power-play, Fraser-McGurk smashed a 15-ball fifty, also the fastest half-century by a DC batter in IPL, by launching a six over long-on off Mayank Markande. He would smoke two more sixes over long-off before miscuing a slog to point and fall for 18-ball 65, with the crowd giving him a standing ovation.
Porel launched a stunning assault against Shahbaz Ahmed, picking the lengths well to hit three fours and a six as 22 runs came off the eighth over. But Porel missed a wide delivery from Markande and was stumped for 22-ball 42. Rishabh Pant got a rousing reception from his home crowd and he didn’t disappoint them by producing two dazzling flicks fetching him boundaries off Bhuvneshwar. But he struggled to find fluency big time, especially being beaten on pace by Cummins, which meant DC crumbled under pressure.
Tristan Stubbs fell victim to a pull shot, sending the ball to mid-wicket off Nitish Reddy, while Lalit Yadav saw his leg stump cartwheeling after being dismissed by T Natarajan. Natarajan further dismantled the DC lineup by removing Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, and Kuldeep Yadav in the 19th over. Despite Pant's efforts in collecting boundaries, it was too late for DC to avoid their fifth defeat of the competition.
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