Abhishek, Klaasen shine in Hyderabad's win over Delhi

After five quiet games for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023, Mitchell Marsh finally showed his all-round prowess on Saturday. The 31-year-old Australian claimed figures of 4/27 and then hit 63 off 39 balls, but it wasn't enough as Sunrisers Hyderabad notched up a nine-run victory against the hosts at Arun Jaitley Stadium. Chasing 198, Delhi finished on 188/6. With just two wins in eight games, Delhi continue to stay at the bottom of the table.

Sunrisers' total of 197/6 was built on the efforts of Abhishek Sharma (67 – 36 balls, 12x4, 1x6) and Heinrich Klaasen (53 not out – 27 balls, 2x4, 4x6).

While Delhi lost David Warner in the opening over of the run chase, they seemed on course for a rare win when Marsh and Phil Salt added 112 runs off 66 balls for the second wicket. After reaching 57/1 in six overs, they were able to keep up with the asking rate even when the fielding restrictions eased. They punished Umran Malik for 22 runs in the seventh over, Marsh clearing the boundary twice off short deliveries. While Salt reached his fifty off 29 balls, Marsh took 28 balls to get to the milestone.

The breakthrough that Sunrisers needed came when leg-spinner Mayank Markande held on to an excellent return catch to dismiss Salt in the 12th over. With Manish Pandey and Marsh also being dismissed in successive overs, Delhi were left needing 69 runs off the last six overs. Despite a couple of lusty blows by Axar Patel towards the end, the target proved to be beyond Delhi's reach.

Abhishek — SRH's leading run-getter last year with 426 runs — provided the early spark in his third game as the opening batter this season. By hitting Ishant Sharma for two fours through the off-side in the first over, he instantly stamped his authority on the game.

Though Mayank Agarwal and Rahul Tripathi were dismissed in the powerplay, Abhishek's innings allowed Sunrisers to reach 62/2 at the six-over mark. Ishant, in particular, bore the brunt of the onslaught, conceding four fours in the final over of the powerplay. When he pitched the ball short, Abhishek was able to find the gap through point. When the length was fuller, Abhishek targeted the arc down the ground.

He brought up his half-century off 25 deliveries when he slog swept Kuldeep Yadav over midwicket for six. Marsh was able to continue providing breakthroughs for Delhi though. In the tenth over, he dismissed Aiden Markram and Harry Brook in the space of three deliveries. While Markram perished after pulling a short ball to Axar at the deep midwicket boundary, Brook's pull was caught by the same fielder inside the 30-yard circle. Sunrisers did not score a single run in Marsh's over, but they made up for it by taking the very next over for 24 runs. While Abhishek hit two fours to begin Mukesh Kumar's over, Klaasen ended it by smashing a four and six down the ground.

Even when Abhishek was caught by Warner at long-on, the duo of Klaasen and Abdul Samad ensured that the scoring rate did not suffer. They stitched together a 53-run partnership in just 33 deliveries to propel the Sunrisers innings, hitting six sixes between them. Klaasen's half-century —his first of the season — just took 25 deliveries.

Brief scores: SRH 197/6 (A Sharma 67, H Klassesn 53; M Marsh 4/27); DC 188/6 (M mArsh 63, P Salt 59; M Markande 2/20). SRH won by 9 runs