Dhawan, Hetmyer, Stoinis and Rabada take Delhi Capitals to their first IPL final
Kane Williamson fifty in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad get knocked out in Qualifier 2
Kane Williamson fifty in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad get knocked out in Qualifier 2
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Sidharth Monga
That is all from us tongiht. Capitals relived to make theer first IPL final. And then there were two left standing. Be sure to join us for that. Cheers
Marcus Stoinis, Man of the Match: "Have done it for a couple of seasons so it was nice to get an opportunity to bat at the top. There was a bit of swing early. We had a look at it first, and then we let go. I asked Rashid what the send-off was all about but he told me he didn't say anything. So all fine. This tournament has been hard for everyone with quarantine and missing family etc. I am not sure if I will open in the final. We will speak to Ricky and see what to do. Mumbai are a very good team but I would like to say they are due an off day. See our best cricket should be enough to win so we have to play our best cricket."
Shreyas Iyer: "Amazing. This is the best feeling ever. This has been a rollercoaster. A lot of ups and downs. We have stuck together like a family. A lot of responsibility comes as a captain, and on top of that you have to maintain consistency as a batsman. But I feel I have been getting a lot of support from my coaches and the owners. Really fortunate to have such an amazing team. The emotions keep going high and low. You can't have same set of routines. You have to keep chopping and changing. In the next game too, we have to play freely and maintain our temperament. We were happy with the total. We were going at 10 an over, but Rashid can be lethal so we decided to play him out. We were lacking in our opening partnership, and we needed that rocket start. We thought if Stoinis plays the maximum deliveries, he could give us a push."
Now that you get the time to unpack what has happened, DC did many things right with their attitude, but their bowling is looking very flaky. They have just scraped through here. You can't have two spinners whom you won't bowl against one kind of batsmen. Axar has not bowled out in the two matches he has played against MI> Tonight they didn't bowl Ashwin because of right-hand batsmen, and then had to risk him at the death. It is the skill and experience of the man that he held his own there but a lesser spinner might have lost them the match. And Nortje is looking not that good at the death. And, as Rabada said, he got lucky in that last over. That full toss was about six inches below the waist. Had that been a free hit, the game was well and truly on
Kagiso Rabada: "Today was just my day. I don't think I bowled particularly well in that last over. But there are days when you bowl well with no rewards so I will take that. If we end up winning the tournament, the contest for the purple cap doesn't matter. I am just glad we got over the line today but we will have to be at least as good or better in the final. Delhi had never reached the final so we are glad to take the team there. Now it is all about sealing it off. Hopefully we make it more history in the final game. The IPL final is huge. It is a huge tournament because of the magnitude of the players. The skill level is high. Mumbai are a really good team. We are a young team but we have a lot of talent as well."
David Warner: "First and foremost, no one gave us a chance at the start. Everyone talked of the big three: Mumbai, DC and RCB. So I am really proud of our campaign. Natarajan, Rashid, Manish Pandey have been the positives. That back half in the tournament is how we like to play our cricket. You can't win tournaments if you keep dropping catches and missing chances. I think with the ball and the bat we improved after doing badly but our attitude in the field let us down. Yes there were injuries but you have to work with what you have got. I am proud to get where we are today as no one gave us a chance."
Capitals go through to the final, but this was closer than a 17-run win. A lot of positive cricket from DC in this do-or-die encounter. They pushed Stoinis to the top and Hetmyer to No. 4, and both of them worked out. They also took the gamble of bowling in the dew just so that they could play that free-flowing aggressive cricket at the top. SRH dropped a few catches, were patchy in the field, and when you are a side like SRH with limited resources, you can't afford too much of that. Stoinis continues to be the life juice of DC: gave them the start, then picked two Powerplay wickets, and then got Williamson at the death. Stoinis is carrying a toy figure of The Hulk
Now they just need to bowl three legal deliveries to go through to their first final
Nortje to bowl the last over. DC are practically in their first final now
He can score runs up the order. He can take wickets at the death. Where would Delhi Capitals be without him?
Kane Williamson fifty in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad get knocked out in Qualifier 2
Sunrisers captain heaps praise on Natarajan for having an "outstanding" IPL
Also, why did Capitals go against the trend and choose to bat first? And should Williamson have attacked more?
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner confirms injury, no update from BCCI yet