JOIN USDelhi Daredevils managed to choke Sunrisers Hyderabad in the middle overs but Yuvraj Singh's splendid fireworks late in the innings led the defending champions to a challenging 185/3 in an IPL match here tonight.
Openers David Warner (30) and Shikhar Dhawan (28) had given the visitors a fiery start after being asked to bat but once the openers departed, Sunrisers had to work hard for runs.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra played a crucial role in choking the Sunrisers batsmen as he gave away only 23 runs in his four overs and also got rid of Dhawan. Jayant Yadav, included in place of Shahbaz Nadeem, also did a great job by conceding only 26 runs in his four overs.
Sanju Samson dropped Yuvraj on 29 and the dashing left- hander exploited it to hit his second fifty of the season. After making 62 against RCB in his first match, he was struggling for runs and he found touch when the team needed.
Yuvraj took some time to settle down on a slow pitch but gradually stroked the ball nicely. His 70 came off 41 balls with 11 fours and a six. He also added 93 runs for the unconquered fourth wicket with Moises Henriques (25 off 18).
In the last three overs Sunrisers collected 52 runs with Kagiso Rabada leaking 39 runs in 18th and 20th overs. Warner began from where he left against Kolkata Knight Riders, striking the ball confidently. He found boundaries off Yadav and Rabada with remarkable ease.
Dhawan also was in tremendous touch as he creamed off two fours and a six off Chris Morris. The SRH openers were never troubled by the home bowlers. Warner smashed one from Mohammed Shami to mid-wicket boundary to raise the team's fifty.
However, Shami took revenge in the next ball with a well-placed yorker that uprooted Warner's off stump. Mishra has not bowled during Power Play overs this season and the trend continued. He bowled the ninth over and struck in the second ball as Dhawan top-edged the googly to Shreyas Iyer, who covered a good distance to take the catch.
The two wickets affected the run flow but the visitors still put on board 83 at half-way mark as Kane Williamson (24) found a few boundaries.
Tight overs by Morris, Mishra and Yadav created pressure and Williamson, trying to break free, went for a pull off Shami bouncer but only top-edged it to Morris.
There was gap of 15 balls when no boundary was struck. Yuvraj finally found one off Shami and it raised the team's 100 in 13.2 overs.
Runs were still tough to come by for Sunrisers with Yuvraj and Henriques managing only singles and doubles. Yuvraj though changed the script after being dropped.