Sunrisers Hyderabad edge Delhi Daredevils by six runs in IPL 2015 match at Raipur

Delhi Daredevils (DD) were eliminated from Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015, after losing their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by six runs at Raipur on Saturday. Chasing 164 to win, the Daredevils finished on a score of 157 for four after 20 overs. Kedar Jadhav and Quinton de Kock were the top-scorers for DD with innings of 63 not out and 50 respectively, while Karn Sharma was the pick among the SRH bowlers with two wickets for 12 runs. SRH moved to the fourth position with the victory as a result, boosting their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs. Updates: DD vs SRH, IPL 2015 Match 45 at Raipur

Hosts Delhi Daredevils were handed an early blow at the start of their innings, when Shreyas Iyer was caught and bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a seven-ball duck, with just 13 runs on the team’s scoreboard. South African wicketkeeper batsman Quinton de Kock, who made his first appearance in IPL 2015, decided to go after the opposition attack thereafter, hitting nine boundaries and a six to race to his half-century in just 29 balls. IPL 2015 Highest run-scorer: List of best batsmen in IPL 8

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It was an exquisite display by de Kock, who did not live up to his expectations during the recently-concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, where he could not register an innings worth mentioning save the special knock against Sri Lanka in the quarter-final. De Kock cut and pulled with precision as he announced himself in the tournament, even if Delhi were on the verge of getting knocked out.  IPL 2015 Highest wicket-taker: List of best bowlers in IPL 8

The partnership between de Kock and skipper JP Duminy was worth 47 runs, when Karn Sharma managed to get the important breakthrough, deceiving de Kock with the spin to get him stumped after the batsman attempted to come down the pitch to attack. It was the beginning of a series of dismissals, that would nearly put DD out of the match. IPL 2015 Most 6s and 4s: List of most dangerous batsmen in IPL 8

Kedar Jadhav began to rebuild the Delhi innings with Saurabh Tiwary, with the pair standing firm at the crease at a time when Karn Sharma was bamboozling the batsmen. Once past the 100-run mark, Jadhav and Tiwary began to smash their way towards the target, with one Praveen Kumar over fetching DD 22 runs. Jadhav eventually brought up his fifty in just 24 balls, as a victory seemed imminent for Delhi. IPL 2015 Leading fielders: List of Best fielders in IPL 8

Delhi needed 22 runs off the last 12 balls, with Jadhav batting on 57. Little had expected Bhuvneshwar and Ishant Sharma to bowl with precision to tighten up the match for them. Bhuvneshwar conceded only six runs in what was a brilliant display of death bowling. The decision to hand the ball to Ishant Sharma for the final over raised many an eyebrow, given Ishant’s negative reputation for bowling under pressure. After getting hit for a boundary off the first ball, Ishant managed to keep it tight for the next five deliveries, coupled with some impressive fielding, as DD fell six runs short.

Brief scores:

Sunrisers Hyderabad 163 for 4 in 20 overs (Moises Henriques 74*, Eoin Morgan 22; Nathan Coulter-Nile 2 for 25) beat Delhi Daredevils 157 for 4 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 50, Kedar Jadhav 63*; Karn Sharma 2 for 12) by 6 runs.

Man of the Match: Moises Henriques.

Full Scorecard

(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)