IPL 2018: Pant's 128 in vain as SRH hand DD humiliating 9-wicket defeat

Rishabh Pant's 128 went in vain as Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson won the match for Sunrisers Hyderabad with comfort. SRH confirm their place in playoffs

In the 42nd match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Delhi Daredevils by 9 wickets at the Firoz Shah Kota stadium in Delhi, hitting a perfect purple patch. With this, Hyderabad ended Delhi's chances for playoffs too. SRH retain their top spot on the VIVO IPL points table. After Rishabh Pant wreaked havoc on SRH  bowlers that propelled Delhi's score to 187 runs, it was Hyderabad's time to hand a strong reply. Master at defending low totals, SRH had a different challenge today, a long chase ahead of them and they pulled a composed one. Earlier, Delhi Daredevils won the toss and decided to bat first against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Delhi's entire inning revolved around one man --Rishabh Pant, who made a spectacular century and bailed out his team. No bowler could escape his wrath, even Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Pant emerged past everything to make a mark. No matter what, he had everyone chanting his name in the stadium and was a sheer spectacle. Delhi openers Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy were dismissed in consecutive deliveries by Shakib Al Hasan. Just as Delhi was on the road to recovery, Pant committed a blunder by denying a run to Shreyas Iyer at the eleventh hour, he was too late to return to the crease. 

Along with Hyderabad, Rishabh Pant continued to give a hard time to his own teammates who were struggling to coordinate with him for running between the wickets. Pant committed another error during running between the wicket, Harshal Patel had to pay the price this time. Finding himself Guilty for the gaffes, Pant vented his anger on bowlers. He only settled for a century. Just as Hyderabad got on the job, Harshal Patel removed Alex Hales. Things went in Delhi's direction till that far only, after that, it was Hyderabad's show. Dhawan got into the role soon and smashed some powerful boundaries. Hyderabad had taken a lead in the match by denying any wicket after the first blow. Dhawan and Williamson saw no resistance whatsoever from any bowler. Dhawan and Williamson raised their bats for their fifty respectively. The lacklustre bowling proved harmful and the match had become a one-sided affair.

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Daredevils (SRH vs DD) scoreboard
BATSMEN	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Alex Hales	lbw b Patel	14	10	3	0	140
Shikhar Dhawan	not out	92	50	9	4	184
Kane Williamson	not out	83	53	8	2	156.6
Total: 191/1 in 18.5 Overs
BOWLERS	Overs	Maiden	Runs	Wickets	Eco
Trent Boult	3.5	0	43	0	11.21
Harshal Patel	4	0	32	1	8
Shabaaz Nadeem	2	0	22	0	11
Liam Plunkett	4	0	41	0	10.25
Amit Mishra	3	0	29	0	9.66
Vijay Shankar	1	0	14	0	14
Glenn Maxwell	1	0	9	0	9

Sunrisers Hyderabad innings update: Over by over

Sunrisers Hyderabad playing XI for today's match: Alex Hales, Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson(c), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami (w), Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma. Change: Shreevats Goswami comes in for Saha.

Over 1: Trent Boult into the attack, superb line. Well controlled. First runs on the board, Hales takes a double. Flicks for four. Brilliant four. SRH: 6-0

Over 2: Harshal Patel is in the attack. Single to Dhawan. Hales cuts for four, it was in the air but a little too wide for the fielder at point. Poor line by Harshal, pulled for four. Brilliant yorker, plumb, right in front of the stumps. Hales goes for 14. Kane Williamson is the new man in. Single to end the over. SRH: 16-1

Over 3: Shahbaz Nadeem is the new bowler, dot to start with. Single to Kane. Dhawan takes a single. Dot to Williamson. Driven just for one. SRH: 20-1

Over 4: Harshal Patel to Dhawan, a single taken. Williamson took another single off the 2nd ball. Dhawan cut the 3rd ball for four followed by a single. DOT ball. Williamson took a couple of runs to end the over. DD: 29/1

Over 5: Liam Plunkett is the new bowler, Very strict line and length. Brilliant four by Williamson to finish the over. SRH: 38-1

Over 6: Boult to continue, Dhawan wacks him for four. There he goes again. SIX. Single for Dhawan. Williamson takes a single, 50 up for SRH. Very quick single. Full toss, Kane fails to put that away. SRH: 51-1

Over 7: Amit Mishra is the new man in, just one. Appeal for LBW, tuned down. Williamson cuts for four. Just one this time. Dhawan takes a single. SRH: 58-1

Over 8: Here is a four, cracking shot. And pulled for a huge six. WIDE. Dhawan on fire. Inside edge, just one. Another single. SRH: 71-1

Over 9: Mishra continues, Dhawan pulls for one. Nice turn, Kane wanted to clear the ropes, missed it. Inside edge, just one. Well struck for four. SRH: 80-1

Over 10: Plunkett is back and is greeted with four. And again, same ball, same result. Dot ball. Single. Another single taken. Single to finish. SRH: 91-1

Over 11: Mishra continues, two runs in two balls, Williamson pulls for an amazing six. Good shot. Grounded shot to the man at long-off, just one. 100 up for SRH. Dhawan steps out, manages to get an edge to the ball and it races for fur, Single to end the over. SRH: 105-1

Over 12: Patel comes back, Dhawan pulls for four and gets his 50. Single to Dhawan. Brilliant shot, just one. SRH: 112-1

Over 13: Nadeem continues, Huge six, single and doubles. SIX again. SRH: 130-1

Over 14: Maxwell is in the attack, one run. FOUR. nine runs came from it. SRH: 139-1

Over 15: Boult is back and is greeted with a four by Williamson. Over the infield for a double. 50 for Kane. Good shot for four. Quick single. Single. Single to finish the over. SRH: 125-1

Over 16: Plunkett is back, SIX. SRH: 164-1 

Over 17: Harshal Patel is back, dot ball. Another dot. Cracking cover shot for four. Single taken. Dot. SRH: 170-1

Over 18: Plunkett continues, just one. Double for Dhawan. Four, brilliant shot. SRH: 180-1

Over 19: Boult is back, just one. Single to Kane. Four. Dhawan moves to 91. Single. Scores are level. Kane hits a good four and seals the 9-wicket win. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad innings analysis after end of match

Chasing the competitive total of 188 runs, Alex Hales and Shikhar Dhawan opened the innings for Sunrisers Hyderabad while Trent Boult bowled the first over. Alex Hales played four consecutive dot balls thanks to brilliant bowling by Boult but Hales scored 6 runs in last 3 balls to show his hitting ability. Harshal Patel came to bowl the 2nd over and Patel came back after hit for 2 consecutive boundaries with Hales' wicket. Kane Williamson came to the crease after the wicket of Alex Hales(14 runs off 10 balls). Shahbaz Nadeem came to bowl the 3rd over and kept the run-rate in check as he conceded 4 runs. After 3 over, SRH were 20/1

Harshal Patel continued from the other end and conceded 9 runs as Dhawan hit the 3rd ball for four. Liam Plunkett bowled the 5th over and SRH batsmen kept the run-rate in check as Dhawan was the aggressor in scoring runs. The most experienced bowler for DD Boult hit for 13 runs as Dhawan hit a six and four to begin the over. After losing Hales wicket early Dhawan took the charge as SRH scored 51/1 at the end off the 6th over

To provide the second breakthrough to Delhi Daredevils, Shreyas Iyer asked Amit Mishra to bowl the 7th over and he used his experience to keep run-rate in check as gave away 7 runs. To use the slowness of wicket, Vijay Shankar was asked to bowl the 8th over and Dhawan hit a four and a six of two consecutive deliveries and showed his class. The duo SRH batsmen also bring the 50 runs partnership for the second wicket to give a solid foundation for a big run chase. Amit Mishra continued from the other end and conceded only 4 runs of the first 5 balls before Dhawan muscled the last ball for four straight down the ground. After the 9 over SRH scored 80 runs and doing good to chase the target of 188.

Liam Plunkett bowled the 10th over and did everything right for SRH batsmen to score runs as he bowled two overpitch delivery for Williamson and he hit the two balls for a classic drive in the extra cover region for four and rotated the strike of the remaining ball to maintain the run-rate. SRH batsmen were showing their class hitting at least one boundary in an over. Amit Mishra came to bowl the 11th over and hit for 14 runs as SRH batsmen looking to accelerate the run-rate. Harshal Patel started the 12th over with 2 dot balls but Dhawan hit the third ball for a boundary to complete his 2nd fifty of IPL 2018. Patel came back hit a four and conceded 3 in last 3 balls.

Shahbaz Nadeem came to bowl the 13th over and Dhawan welcomed him with a six over the bowler's head for six to complete 100-run stand. The game was slipping from the hands of Delhi Daredevils as Nadeem conceded 18 runs. Maxwell who bowled the 14th over conceded 9 runs and maintained the asking rate. Boult bowled 15th over and conceded 13 runs as Delhi Daredevils looked helpless against SRH batsmen intelligent batting. The SRH batsmen were hitting a boundary every over to show how to chase a big total with a cool mind and same they did in Plunkett's over as they took 4 singles and hit a six to collect  12 runs

After time out Harshal Patel came to bowl and bowled 2 consecutive delivery before Dhawan hit the third ball for four as it looked SRH batsmen can hit a four when they needed. Delhi Daredevils need not bowl the remaining 18 balls to lose the match as SRH needed 18 runs to win with 9 wickets in hand. Plunkett bowled the 18th over and conceded 10 runs as again SRH batsmen were able to hit a boundary off the last ball. Boult came to bowl the 19th over and SRH batsmen scored 8 runs to win the match gave a strong message to their critics who were sceptical about Sunrisers Hyderabad batting and their chasing.

Ist innings: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Daredevils (SRH vs DD) scoreboard
BATSMEN	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	SR
Prithvi Shaw	c Dhawan b Shakib Al Hasan	9	11	1	0	81.81
Jason Roy	c Goswami b Shakib Al Hasan	11	13	2	0	84.61
Shreyas Iyer	run out (Goswami/Sandeep Sharma)	3	8	0	0	37.5
Rishabh Pant	not out	128	63	15	7	203.17
HV Patel	run out (Dhawan/Sandeep Sharma/Goswami)	24	17	0	2	141.17
Glenn Maxwell	c Hales b Kumar	9	8	1	0	112.5
Vijay Shankar	not out	0	0	0	0	-
Total: 210/6 in 20 Overs
BOWLERS	Overs	Maiden	Runs	Wickets	Eco
Andre Russell	2	0	16	0	8
Prasidh Krishna	4	0	41	1	10.25
Tom Curran	3	0	33	1	11
Sunil Narine	4	0	27	1	6.75
Piyush Chawla	4	0	48	3	12
Kuldeep Yadav	3	0	43	0	14.33

Delhi Daredevils over by over

Delhi Daredevils playing XI for today's match: Prithvi Shaw, Jason Roy, Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant (W), Glenn Maxwell, Vijay Shankar, Liam Plunkett, Harshal Patel, Shahbaz Nadeem, Amit Mishra, Trent Boult. Change: Shahbaz Nadeem, Jason Roy and Harshal Patel in.

Over 1: Bhuvneswar Kumar to Prithvi Shaw, inswinger for no run. DOT ball. Cross batted shot by Prithvi for a double off the third ball. A swing and a miss, no run. A single taken off the 5th ball. Jason Roy played a dot ball to end the over. DD: 3/0, Prithvi Shaw: 3(5), Jason Roy 0(1b)

Over 2: Sandeep Sharma to Prithvi Shaw, a single taken. Jason Roy played a classic cover drive in the air to bring first 4 for Delhi Daredevils. DOT ball. Roy took a quick single off the 4th ball. Prithvi took a single off the 5th ball in the long-on region. Another single taken by Roy to end the over. DD: 11/0, Prithvi Shaw: 5(7b), Jason Roy 6 (5b)

Over 3: Bhuvneswar Kumar to Jason Roy played two consecutive DOT ball followed by on the upshot straight down the ground for four. DOT ball. Bowled onto the pad, one leg bye taken. Shaw played a DOT ball to end the over. DD: 16/0, Prithvi Shaw: 5(8b), Jason Roy 10 (10b)

Over 4: Shakib Al Hasan to Jason Roy, aloud appeal by bowler only, no run. Roy slapped the 2nd ball straight to long-off for a single. Shaw came down the pitch for a four straight down the ground. DOT ball. Prithvi Shaw out trying to hit a big shot as the ball didn't come onto the bat. Two in two for Shakib as Jason Roy OUT caught behind the wicket. DD: 21/2, Prithvi Shaw c Dhawan b Shakib Al Hasan 9 (11b 1x4 0x6), Jason Roy c Goswami b Shakib Al Hasan 11 (13b 2x4 0x6)

Over 5: Sandeep Sharma to Shreyas Iyer, defended for no run. DOT ball. Another DOT ball. Iyer took a quick single to open his account. Rishabh pant took single off the 5th ball in mid-wicket region. Shreya Iyer drives the last ball straight to mid-off to end the over for no run. DD: 23/2, 

Over 6: Siddhartha Kaul to Rishabh Pant, muscled the ball in the cover region for four. Second four in the point region. Three in three for Rishabh Pant as the under edge went for four. DOT ball. Pant hit the ball in the air but over the infielders for 2 runs. A single taken to end the over. DD: 38/2, Rishabh Pant 16 (7b), Shreyas Iyer 1(5b)

Over 7: Shakib Al Hasan to Rishabh Pant, one run taken. Iyer took single off the 2nd ball. Another single taken by Pant. DOT ball. Iyer flicked the 5th ball for a single. Pant took a single to end the over. DD: 43/2, Rishabh Pant 19 (10b), Shreyas Iyer 3(8b)

Over 8: Sandeep Sharma to Rishabh Pant, two consecutive dot ball to end the over. Another dot ball. A mix up resulted in Shreyas Iyer wicket, no run. 5th DOT ball. Pant took the only single to end the over. DD: 44/3, Shreyas Iyer run out (Goswami/Sandeep Sharma) 3 (8b 0x4 0x6)

Over 9: Shakib Al Hasan to Pant, single taken. Another mix-up to happen but the ball doesn't reach the fielder, single taken. DOT ball. A single taken in the mid-wicket region by Pant. Single is taken. Pant played a defensive shot for no run to end the over. DD: 48/2, Rishabh Pant 22(20b), Harshal Patel 2(2b)

Over 10: Rashid Khan to Harshal Patel, one run taken in the long-on region. DOT ball. Pant took a single off the 3rd ball. Second single was taken by Harshal Patel. Pant swept the 5th ball for a single in the deep square leg region. A dot ball to end the over. DD: 52/3, Rishabh Pant 24(23b), Harshal Patel 4(5b)

Over 11: Siddharth Kaul to Rishabh Pant, one run took. Harshal Patel picked the slower ball and hit it in the square leg region for four followed by a single. Pant pulled the 4th ball for a four in the deep fine leg region followed by a run. Harshal Patel took a single to end the over. DD: 66/3, Rishabh Pant 30 (26b), Harshal Patel 12 (8b)

Over 12: Rashid Khan to Harshal, single taken. pant reverse swept the 2nd ball for a four. This time conventional sweep brings a four followed by a single. Another single taken by Harshal Patel. A short ball down the leg side pulled for a four by pant to end the over. DD: 81/3, Rishabh Pant 43(30b), Harshal Patel 14(10b)

Over 13: Sandeep Sharma to Harshal Patel, dot ball. Patel dispatched the 2nd ball into the crowd followed by a single. Sandeep bowled onto the pad, Pant helped it for four. A miss field by Williamson costs SRH a single. Harshal Patel took a single to end the over. DD: 94/3, Rishabh Pant 48(32b), Harshal Patel 22(14b)

Over 14: Rashid Khan to Harshal Patel, single taken. Pant missed the while trying to sweep, a leg bye taken by DD. Harshal Patel beaten by a sharp turn, no run. Another single taken by Harshal Patel. Play and a miss, no run. Another mix up due to Rishabh Pant indecision resulted in Harshal Patel wicket, RUN OUT to end the over. DD: 98/4, Harshal Patel run out (Dhawan/Goswami) 24 (17b 0x4 2x6)

Over 15: Shakib Al Hasan to Pant, dispatched for a six to complete 7th IPL fifty followed by a single. maxell took a single off the 3rd ball. Pant hit a four straight down the ground. DOT ball. A single taken to end the over. DD: 111/4

Over 16: Siddharth Kaul to Rishabh Pant, walloped for a SIX followed by a single. Maxwell took a single off the 3rd ball. Yorker outside off stump for no run. Another yorker outside off, DOT ball. Pant took single to end the over. DD: 120/4, Rishabh Pant 69(45b), Glen Maxwell: 2(2b)

Over 17: Rashid Khan to Rishabh Pant, reverse swept for four followed by six over the six over the long-off fielder. pant took a single off the 3rd ball. A quick double to taken. Maxwell got an outside edge declined the run with a loud shout of NOOO. Dot ball to end the over. DD: 133/4, Rishabh Pant 80(48b), Glen Maxwell: 4(5b)

Over 18: Bhuvneswar Kumar to Pant, dispatched the ball into the crowd for a six. WIDE. Pant smashed the 2nd ball for four in the extra cover region, muscled the 4th ball for a couple of runs. A rare DOT ball when Pant was on the strike. Pant played an ABD shot for four over the third man fielder for four. Pant took a single to end the over. DD: 151/4, Rishabh Pant 97(54b), Glen Maxwell: 4(5)

Over 19: Siddharth Kaul to Pant, powerful hit straight to cover fielder for no run. Pant walloped the lower full toss for four in the mid-wicket region to complete his first IPL century. DOT ball. Pant punched the 4th ball down the ground for a single. Maxwell hit the 5th ball over the bowler's head for four. Maxwell took a single to end the over. DD: 161/4, Rishabh Pant 102(58b) Glenn Maxwell: 4(5)

Over 20: Bhuvneswar Kumar to Maxwell, OUT. Pant scoped the 2nd ball for four followed by another scop for four in the third man region. Pant pulled the 4th ball for six. A one-handed six from Rishabh Pant. Third consecutive six to end the over. Most expensive over bowled by Bhuvneswar as he conceded 26 runs in the last over. DD: 187/5, Rishabh Pant 128(63b)

Delhi Daredevils innings analysis after 20 overs

DD won the toss and opted to bat first against a strong bowling line-up of SRH. Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy opened the innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled the first over. To start things off, Kumar bowled a quick in-swinger to surprise young Shaw, who got an inside edge on it. The pitch was offering inconsistent bounce. Kumar switched between in-swings and out-swings throughout the over. Sandeep Sharma came in with the second over. Roy found the gap and smashed him for a cover-drive boundary on the second delivery. Sharma improved his line and the rest of the over only offered singles for DD. Kumar returned, DD batsmen were kept quiet for a while. Kumar faltered on his length and Roy hit a lofted straight drive boundary. DD were 16/0 after 3 overs.

Shakib came in to bowl the 4th over. The most economical bowling unit of the tournament was not offering any options to score big runs to the most explosive batting unit(highest strike rate) of the tournament. Batsmen were getting restless due to a slow run rate. Pressure paid-off for SRH and Shakib sent both the openers back to the dugout. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant were the two new men in. Sandeep Sharma was brought back into the attack. DD was under pressure and both the batsmen played it safe. Only 2 runs came from this over. Sidharth Kaul came to bowl the 6th over which proved to be a relief for a struggling DD side. Rishabh Pant smashed him for three consecutive boundaries off the first three deliveries. Pant got lucky later in the over when the ball, taking an outside edge landed in the no-man's land. DD were struggling at 38/2 after the powerplay.

Shakib returned in the 7th over. DD batsmen didn't take any risks. DD were scoring at just over run-a-ball. Sandeep bowled continuous slower deliveries and Pant was struggling. The ball was turning towards the body. Consecutive dot deliveries built pressure and Shreyas got run-out due to a miscommunication. Harshal Patel was the next batsmen in. Shakib was brought back in the 9th over. The pitch was offering tremendous turn and the batsmen were struggling to score runs. Pant was reeling under pressure and there was another miscommunication with Patel, but luckily didn't result in any tragedy for DD. DD were 48/3 after 9 overs.

To increase DD's woes a bit, Rashid Khan came in with the 10th over. Rashid was spinning the ball inside-out. DD's batsmen had to resort to sweep shorts to survive the over. DD was under pressure and Williamson thought it to be the perfect time to get away with Kaul's overs, a weak link in today's match. Thus, Sidharth was back in the attack in the 11th over. But the move backfired and Kaul conceded 14 runs in his over. A comparatively expensive over ended with another mis-communication in running between the wickets. Rishabh Pant was not having a great night and continued to struggle against Rashid in the 12th over. He did get boundaries but the ball was not hitting the sweet spot on his bat. Rashid ended the over with a loose ball and conceded 15 runs in his over. DD were 81/3 after 12 overs.

A partnership was building up between Harshal and Pant. Sandeep Sharma started the 13th over. DD were on their way to build the momentum to change the gears whenever they needed. Sandeep Sharma leaked 13 runs in his over. DD had managed to score at a whopping 14 rpo for the last three overs. Rashid Khan came back and made amends to his bowling. A couple of dot balls and the batsmen looked to do something special. Another incident of foolish running between the wickets and Rishabh Pant became the culprit of another run-out. Maxwell was the new man in. Shakib came in to bowl his last over and Rishabh went after him, looking to repent his mistakes. DD stood at 111/4 after 15 overs.

Kaul returned with the 16th over and Pant welcomed him with a maximum towards on-side. But Kaul made a comeback and continued bowling outside-off, away from Pant's hitting zone. Even after a first-ball six, Kaul conceded just 9 runs in his over. Rashid Khan started with the 17th over. Pant was completely in his groove and went all out against him. Khan conceded 13 runs in his over. Pant continued the assault and didn't even spare Bhuvneshwar Kumar, hitting him for a six and a four off the first two balls. Kumar looked just to survive but pant had other thoughts and hit him for another boundary towards the third man through an unconventional upper flick. Pant was quickly approaching his century. Sidharth Kaul returned to bowl the 19th over and after a dot delivery, Pant muscled the second ball for a boundary, reaching his 100 in 56 deliveries. Kaul answered with a quick delivery and Pant looked uncertain about his short selection, resulting in a dot. Maxwell, who was watching the Pant show from the non-striker's end, joined the party with a boundary straight down the ground. Bhuvi came in to bowl the last over and Maxwell had to depart earlier than the Daredevils thought. But, Pant continued to punish and hit 26 runs off the next 5 balls of the over. Two fours and three consecutive sixes made the over a nightmare for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the SRH. DD finished their innings at 187/5, courtesy of wonderful knock of 128 runs from Rishabh Pant

 
Here are a few things to know about the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Daredevils (SRH vs DD) match to be played at Ferozshah Kotla ground in New Delhi, the two teams' players who could prove handy, and who has said what before the clash:
 

What Pravin Amre said after losing last match vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Two dropped catches cost Delhi Daredevils the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, said assistant coach Pravin Amre. "On this wicket, we batted well in the powerplay by getting 60 runs. I think that was very crucial. Prithvi's (Shaw) knock was so critical to give that foundation. But we were 10 runs short in the end," said Amre after the match yesterday night. After that also, we came back strongly. In seven overs we did not give a single boundary to them. I think the match was on. The saying is that catches win matches. We dropped two crucial ones, he said, referring to the dropped catches of SRH opener Alex Hales and key batsman Yusuf Pathan.
 
Delhi Daredevils bat for organ donation: Delhi Daredevils (DD) on Wednesday joined their official media Healthcare partner Fortis Healthcare to raise awareness about the cause of Cadaver Organ Donation. Former captain and opening batsman Gautam Gambhir, who was present along with other team members and team officials, said: "I want to request everyone to become an organ donor. I myself am an organ donor. The ability to help someone live a better life -- there is no better feeling than this. "Organ donation reflects humanity's capability to give another life after we have lived our own. It is an initiative which is very close to my heart and I urge everyone to become an organ donor. I am happy to be a part of Fortis 'More to Give' initiative."
 
I am not thinking about India squad, focus on IPL as of now, says Pant: Rishabh Pant's individual brilliance has not gone unnoticed in Delhi Daredevils' stuttering campaign in the ongoing IPL but the young wicket-keeper batsman says he doesn't want to think about a potential India call-up based on this performance. Pant has been Daredevils' batting mainstay this season with three half-centuries and two near-fifty contributions. Asked if this consistent show will help him secure an India jersey, Pant said, "I am not thinking about that. I am just playing IPL right now, just trying it do well in every game for the side."  Pant said his side has succeeded in curtailing the mistakes and that has been the key to its revival. They have now jumped from eight to sixth in the points table and remain in Play-offs race. "Everything is fine from our side. There are small things, we are making mistakes in every match that did not happen this time and we won the match."
 
We are looking at improvement and not perfection, says Williamson: Perched atop the points table, they have so far relished a stupendous performance in the IPL and Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson says all they have tried to do is take "small steps forward" for improvement than chase perfection. "It's been improving and that's what we want to continue. We want to continue that trend of improvement. Small steps forward rather than us looking for perfect performances," Williamson said.
 
The team head to head ahead of IPL today’s match Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Daredevils (SRH vs DD)
 
Overall:
Matches – 12,
Delhi Daredevils won – 4
Sunrisers Hyderabad won – 8