All-round Sunrisers Hyderabad outclass Delhi Capitals by 88 runs, keep Play-off hopes alive
Dubai: Wriddhiman Saha stamped his class with a 45-ball 87 before Rashid Khan dished out a clinical bowling performance as Sunrisers Hyderabad kept themselves alive in the race for IPL play-offs with a whopping 88-run win over Delhi Capital, here on Tuesday.
Asked to bat first, splendid knocks by Saha (87), skipper David Warner (66) and Manish Pandey (44) powered Sunrisers to 219 for two.
Star spinner Rashid then led a fine bowling display to end with the impressive figures of 4-0-7-3, his best in this season.
The Afghan bowled an astonishing 17 dot balls in his quota of four overs, helping his side bowl out the Capitals for 131 in 19 overs.
Sunrisers (10 points) have now moved up to sixth from the seventh position with this win, while the Capitals, who slumped to their third consecutive loss, were pushed down to the third spot with 14 points.
Chasing a stiff target, it was a rather ordinary performance by the Capitals batsmen. Shikhar Dhawan (0) and Marcus Stoinis (5), who was elevated to number 3, perished in the first two overs.
Ajinkya Rahane (26) and Shimron Heytmyer (16) quickly started the recovery work, stitching a 40 run stand, the highest for their team. The duo targeted Jason Holder, collecting 22 runs in the sixth over as Delhi reached 54 for two at the end of the Powerplay overs.
However, Rashid dealt Delhi with twin blows, getting rid of both Rahane and Hetmyer in the seventh over. Skipper Shreyas Iyer (7) was next to depart as wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals.
Seven of Delhi's batsmen failed to reach double digits with Rishabh Pant (36) being the top scorer.
While Rashid was the pick of the bowlers for Sunrisers, Sandeep Sharma (2/27) and T Natarajan (2/26) picked two wickets apiece. Vijay Shankar(1/11), Shahbaz Nadeem (1/8), Holder (1/46) took a wicket each.
Earlier, both openers Warner, who looked in good nick, and Saha, playing his second game of the season, went after the Delhi bowlers from the word go.
Fully capitalizing on the field restrictions, the duo smashed boundaries (11 fours and two sixes) every over to collect 77-runs in the first six overs, the best Powerplay figures of the season.
In the sixth over, Warner smashed the tournament's leading wicket-taker Kagiso Rabada (0/54) for four boundaries and a six, helping the Sunrisers reach 100 runs in just 8.4 overs.
Till Warner was taking on the bowlers, Saha played the second fiddle to perfection.
The Australian celebrated his 34th birthday with a half-century off just 25 balls, hitting two sixes and eight fours at the Dubai International Stadium.
To Delhi's relief Ravichandran Ashwin (1/35) broke the 107-run opening stand in the 10th over as he dismissed danger man Warner, who was caught at extra cover by Axar Patel.
With Warner gone, Saha hammered the Capitals bowlers all around the park. The wicketkeeper-batsman reached his fifty in style with a boundary. He plundered 12 fours and two sixes before pacer Anrich Nortje (1/37) dismissed him in the 15th over.
Pandey and Kane Williamsion (11 not out) continued the assault on a listless Delhi bowling unit.
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NDA to boycott Feb 5 TN bypoll, says BJP leader Annamalai
The BJP-led NDA has decided to boycott the Erode East bypoll scheduled for February 5 and would focus on dethroning the ruling DMK in the hustings next year, the saffron party's state unit said on Sunday.
The BJP's announcement virtually makes the election a no-contest as the main opposition AIADMK and the DMDK have already announced boycotting the byelections necessitated by the death of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan. The DMK has nominated VC Chandrakumar on behalf of its-led bloc, which also has the Congress in the alliance.
BJP TN chief K Annamalai said the upcoming elections were a “byelection for a byelection”, following the bypoll held here in 2022. He recalled there were accusations of the ruling DMK then "confining" people at designated places.
The NDA faced the DMK violating poll rules due to the "arrogance" of being the ruling party.
"The coming 2026 Assembly polls are one meant to remove the DMK (from the ruling saddle), and the NDA is moving towards that target and does not want to allow the DMK to confine people like cattle once again," he said in a statement.
"All leaders of the NDA who wish for people's welfare, after detailed consultation, have decided to boycott the Erode East bypoll. Our target is to remove the DMK in the 2026 elections and give the NDA's good governance to people," Annamalai said.
The state has been pushed to a "dark period" with no safety for various sections of society and the DMK government was an "anti-people" one where law and order has also failed, the former IPS officer alleged.
NDA constituents in the state include Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK).
Incidentally, the AIADMK that was a part of the NDA in 2022 had fielded its nominee in that year's bypoll to Erode East seat but lost to Congress' Elangovan, who faced the elections following the death of his son and local MLA E Thirumahan Everaa.
