Dubai: Sunrisers Hyderabad survived a last-over scare to secure a four-run victory over Delhi Daredevils, registering their first win in the tournament in three games at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, tasked with delivering the final over of which 20 were needed, held his nerve even as JP Duminy took six off the penultimate ball. A last-ball six would have taken the game into a super over, but he could only drill the last ball to long off for two.
After beginning with a thrilling victory over Kolkata Knight Riders, a game that also went down to the last over and had Duminy finish it off, DD slipped to their second consecutive defeat.
Chasing 185, openers Quinton de Kock 48 off 30 with six boundaries and a six and Murali Vijay 52 in 40 balls, he struck seven fours and one maximum gave them a rollicking start, but the duo's dismissal off successive overs robbed them of valuable momentum. Kevin Pietersen's (16) decision to walk in at No 3 wouldn't have been his best as he struggled to get going, and his deputy Dinesh Karthik's (15) travails at the other end compounded their need for quick runs.
Duminy has been DD's most consistent batsman and the sight of the South African coming in at five in the 17th over proved to be the death blow. Dale Steyn delivered a decisive over that brought Duminy to the crease, getting Karthik and Pietersen off consecutive balls, and Duminy and Manoj Tiwary - already under the pump after dropping two sitters in the field - couldn't produce enough big overs.
Earlier, Finch, Dhawan and Warner finally lived up to their all-star billing, determined more so against their former employers. SRH are a classic example of a top-heavy batting order, but none of them took responsibility to bat throughout the innings in each of their last two games.
Against DD, however, Finch batted through, and even though Dhawan fell for 33 despite an easy chance put down by Manoj Tiwary at point, David Warner kept Finch company till the end.
The last ball of the 14th over delivered by Wayne Parnell, a high full toss, released the pressure for SRH as Warner, struggling to get the ball into the gaps and having thrown his gloves in disgust, found his hitting rhythm. Laxmi Ratan Shukla's next over gave 19 as Finch and Warner capitalized - 85 runs came from the last six.
Finch's 88 not out took up just 53 balls while his Australian batting partner, having fallen behind made up for it with a 45-ball 58 not out.
Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and opted to bat.
Irfan Pathan i for Naman Ojha in Sunrisers squad. Daredevils have opted for Kevin Pietersen, Quinton de Kock, Wayne Parnell, and Laxmi Shukla. Ross Taylor, Jimmy Neesham, Mayank Agarwal and injured Nathan Coulter-Nile left out.
Teams
Hyderabad : Aaron Finch, Shikhar Dhawan (Capt.), David Warner, Lokesh Rahul, Darren Sammy, Venugopal Rao, Karn Sharma, Naman Ojha (wk), Dale Steyn, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Delhi : Murali Vijay, Quinton de Kock, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Kevin Pietersen (Capt.), JP Duminy, Manoj Tiwary, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wayne Parnell, Shahbaz Nadeem, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Shami
Brief scores
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 184/1 (Finch 88*, Warner 58*, Dhawan 33)
Delhi Daredevils - 180/4 (Vijay 52, de Kock 48, Steyn 2-33)
Result - Sunrisers Hyderabad won 4 runs
Points - Sunrisers Hyderabad 2, Delhi Daredevils 0
MOM - Aaron Finch (Sunrisers Hyderabad)