Kagiso Rabada led Delhi Capitals to a remarkable win against Sunrisers Hyderabad to move to second place in the Indian Premier League table on Sunday night.
Rabada took three catches and four wickets as the home team collapsed from 72-0 to 116 all out chasing Delhi's 155-7. The fast bowler, who ended with figures of 4-22, is once again top of the bowling chart after briefly sharing the position with fellow South African Imran Tahir of Chennai Super Kings.
Hyderabad won the toss and Kane Williamson asked the Capitals to bat first, which seemed like a good call given the visitors were 69-3 at one point. Captain Shreyas Iyer (45) and Colin Munro (40) made cameos to rescue their side but a target of 156 seemed like within Hyderabad's grasp given their batting might.
"This one's for you, Dilli!" ♥
— Delhi Capitals (Stay Home. Wear Double Masks😷) (@DelhiCapitals) April 14, 2019
The man of the moment is all smiles after the win. Sound on! 😁#SRHvDC #ThisIsNewDelhi #DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/7hijTJvaKh
"A perfect team performance tonight!"@manuz05 is all pumped after our excellent win at Hyderabad!#SRHvDC #ThisIsNewDelhi #DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/oJdh6DuPpM
— Delhi Capitals (Stay Home. Wear Double Masks😷) (@DelhiCapitals) April 14, 2019
Paceman Khaleel Ahmed was especially superb for Hyderabad as he finished with figures of 3-30.
But the night belonged to Rabada and his Delhi fellow pace bowlers, with Keemo Paul taking 3-17 and Chris Morris getting 3-22, as they combined to break the back of Hyderabad's batting after they were cruising along at 72-0. But once in-form openers David Warner (51) and Jonny Bairstow (41) were back in the dug-out, it was game over for the hosts. Worse for Hyderabad, they now find themselves third from bottom in the IPL table.
Tahir spins Chennai to victory
Earlier on Sunday, Chennai Super Kings consolidated their position at the top of the table after securing a last-over win against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
Suesh Raina (58) and bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (31) guided the visitors to a five-wicket victory on the back of an unbroken 41-run partnership with both experienced left-handers mixing caution with aggression against Kolkata's dangerous bowling attack. Raina hit a six and seven fours, while Jadeja hit five shots to the fence during their stand.
There were cameos from Faf du Plessis (24) and Kedar Jadhav (20), both of whom, along with MS Dhoni (16), might regret not having batted on after getting good starts. But Chennai bat deep and have usually found a way to win under pressure, as was evident against Rajasthan Royals last week.
But it is Tahir who got the lion's share of the credit for winning the game, and rightly so, seeing as he was given the Man of the Match award for his four-wicket haul. Tahir, who was the last bowler to be brought on by captain Dhoni, took 4-27 in his four-over spell to slow down Kolkata's run-rate.
The South African leg-spinner took the wickets of top-scorer Chris Lynn (82), Nitish Rana (21), Robin Uthappa (0) and the in-form Andre Russell (10). He topped the bowling chart briefly having taken 13 wickets in eight matches, only for Rabada to be out on his own.
