Shaw, Pant help Delhi sink Hyderabad, inch closer to IPL final

Chasing 163 for victory, Delhi rode on aggressive knocks by Shaw and Pant to edge a thrilling game with a ball to spare

Prithvi Shaw’s half-century and Rishabh Pant ‘s 21-ball 49 helped Delhi Capitals seal a two-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League (IPL) playoff on Wednesday to move a step closer to the final.   

Chasing 163 for victory, Delhi rode on aggressive knocks by Shaw and Pant to edge a thrilling game with a ball to spare.   

 Delhi face Chennai Super Kings in another playoff on Friday to determine who meets three-times champions Mumbai Indians in Sunday’s final.   

 Indian opener Shaw laid the platform with a blistering 56 off 38 balls that included six boundaries and two sixes before Pant took Delhi close to victory.   

 Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, who was left out of India’s World Cup squad, smashed five sixes and two boundaries but missed out on a well-deserved half-century when he was caught attempting one too many big shots. Delhi survived a nervy final over in which Amit Mishra was dismissed for obstructing the field by getting in the way of a throw at the stumps, before they sealed a famous victory.

Earlier, Hyderabad’s top-order failed to convert starts into big scores with Martin Guptill dismissed for 36 while Manish Pandey perished for 30.   

 Hyderabad were 111 for the loss of four wickets after Kane Williamson was bowled by paceman Ishant Sharma for 28, but Vijay Shankar and Mohammad Nabi helped accelerate the scoring in the last four overs to take them to a challenging total. Shankar hit two fours and as many sixes in his 11-ball 25 while Nabi made 20 from 13 balls.

-REUTERS