Pant special goes in vain

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan had an excellent outing with the ball for Sunrisers Hyderabad and teammates Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan matched his performance as they defeated Delhi Daredevils by a nine wickets in an IPL match yesterday.

Delhi reached 16 for no loss at the end of the third over before Shakib was introduced and the left-armer made an instant impact. He had Prithvi Shaw caught at cover before bowling a peach of a delivery the next ball to remove Jason Roy. The ball floated in but spun away violently, taking an edge to the keeper.

However, despite his marauding form, Shakib was unable to stop Rishabh Pant, who constantly caught the Delhi bowlers with their pants down. He plundered 15 boundaries and seven sixes to rack up an incredible 63-ball 128. He even took Shakib for 12 runs in an over, bringing the Bangladeshi's figures down to  two for 27 from his four overs.

After the exchange, Hyderabad came out all guns blazing and ended the match almost anticlimactically. Shikhar Dhawan smashed a 50-ball 92 featuring nine fours and four sixes while captain Kane Williamson hit a 53-ball 83 with eight fours and two sixes as the Sunrisers won with seven balls to spare.