Images from the Indian Premier League Qualifier 2 between Delhi Capitals and SunRisers Hyderabad, in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Delhi Capitals turned in a fine all-round showing to beat SunRisers Hyderabad by 17 runs in the second Qualifier and enter their maiden final in the Indian Premier League, in Abu Dhabi, Sunday.
They will take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in the summit clash on Tuesday.
After fine knocks from openers Shikhar Dhawan (78) and Marcus Stoinis (38), and Shimron Hetmyer (42 not out) later, propelled them to a challenging 189 for 3, their bowlers, led by Kagiso Rabada (4-29) and Marcus Stoinis (3-26), struck telling blows to send SunRisers Hyderabad crashing despite a gutsy 67 from Kane Williamson.
Williamson and Abdul Samad (33) threatened spoil Delhi’s party, but Stoinis's timely dismissal of the New Zealand batsman tilted the match Delhi's way.
Stoinis and Dhawan put on an 86-run partnership before the Australian all-rounder took three wickets for 26 runs in SunRisers’s run-chase.
Every move of the Capitals worked on Sunday as Hetmyer also made a major contribution.
All went awry after Rabada got rid of the dangerous David Warner (2) with his first delivery to give the Capitals the start they wanted.
Manish Pandey (21) and Priyam garg (17) stroked the ball beautifully in their short 31-run stand, but Stoinis dismissed both of them in the space of three balls. The three wickets inside five overs pegged SunRisers back.
The Delhi spin duo of Axar Patel and Pravin Dubey also bowled well to keep the proceedings under control.
Williamson and Jason Holder steadied things a bit and kept the scoreboard ticking with ones, twos and the odd boundaries. The Kiwi batsman began hitting with remarkable ease and his strong game against the spinners kept the SunRisers in the hunt. Holder though got out while attempting a big shot off Patel.
Williamson completed his fifty with a single off Patel. He got good support from Samad, who smashed Nortje for two fours and a six.
With SunRisers needing 61 from last five overs, the onus was on Williamson to do the job. However, he was halted in his stride by Stoinis, who dismissed him with an away going delivery, which he hit straight to Rabada at deep cover.
Rabada (4-29) then ran through the lower order to seal the match.
Earlier, Dhawan's 78 off 49 balls gave Delhi Capitals to a challenging 189 for 3.
It turned out to be a good decision to bat first, as Dhawan and Marcus Stoinis (38) got the team off to a flying start with an 86-run stand.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer (21) could not do much, but Shimron Hetmyer, who was included in the side for Sunday's match, chipped in with an unbeaten 42.
Dhawan hit six fours and two sixes during his well-paced innings. He added 52 runs for the third wicket with Hetmyer before being dismissed by seamer Sandeep Sharma (1-30).
SunRisers Hyderabad’s sloppy fielding also helped Delhi Capitals as they dropped Stoinis early in the innings and gave them a few free runs. Dhawan was also dropped towards the end, though it did not cost them much.
Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan (4-0-26-1) was the most effective bowler though T Natarajan bowled well in the slog overs.
Asked to open the innings in this crucial match, Stoinis responded admirably. After being dropped by Jason Holder off Sandeep Sharma at short mid-on, the Australian punished the SunRisers bowlers with a flurry of boundaries.
Stoinis, on three at that time, was nicely set up by Sandeep but the opportunity was not taken.
It was Holder, who was then taken to task by Stoinis, who creamed off 18 runs from the West Indian's over, hitting three fours and a six.
Sandeep was initially impeccable with his length balls but drifted later and was punished by Dhawan.
Spinner Shabaz Nadeem came in to bowl the last Powerplay over and ended up leaking 14 runs as Delhi Capitals reached 65 for no loss.
SunRisers skieepr David Warner shuffled his bowlers around, handing the ball to Rashid and Natarajan. The Afghan spinner got them the breakthrough with his eighth delivery by castling Stoinis.
Dhawan raised his fifty with a six off Nadeem.
Iyer struggled to time the ball and was soon dismissed by Holder.
SunRisers did well in the last two overs, denying the Capitals any boundaries.
