Titans thrash Sunrisers by 8 wickets

Sunrisers Hyderabad's hopes of qualifying for the semifinals hang by a thread after a humiliating eight-wicket loss to South African outfit Titans in a Champions League Twenty20 Group B encounter at the JSCA International Stadium Complex here Saturday.

The Sunrisers dropped to fourth in the table after two losses and a sole win. Titans jumped to second place tied on eight points with leaders Chennai Super Kings, who have played a game less.

Once the Sunrisers were restricted to 145 for seven they were always in trouble on a placid batting track. The Titans took just 16.3 overs to score 147 for two.

Opening batsmen Jacques Rudolph (49 not out) and Henry Davids (64) did all the damage with a 112-run stand.

Captain Davids was in ominous form as he smacked seven fours and four sixes while Rudolph added to the Hyderabad bowlers' misery by hitting three fours and two sixes.

The Sunrisers at least managed to take two wickets but it came a little too late in the day to do any sort of damage to the Titans.

Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan and opening partner Parthiv Patel gave their team a solid start. The Hyderabad outfit were going at 10 runs per over when Dhawan was dismissed.

The left-hander looked into red hot form, smashing seven fours and a six in his brief innings. Patel too played some fabulous shots clearing the boundary twice.

With the score 62 for one in the seventh over, the Sunrisers looked set to post a daunting total but as soon as Patel was dismissed David Wiese in the ninth over, it all turned sour.

The middle-order were completely blown away with Wiese picking three of the top four.

JP Duminy (17), Hanuma Vihari (6), Biplab Samantray (0), Thisara Perera (11) and Darren Sammy (1) all got out in quick succession to leave the Sunrisers in a precarious situation.

With just 14 balls remaining and the score 112 for seven, the Sunrisers found themselves staring at a meagre total.

However, a 33-run partnership off just 14 balls between Dale Steyn (27 not out) and Karan Sharma (11 not out) bailed their team and took them to a respectable score.

The South African pacer smashed three fours and two sixes in the 12 balls he faced.