How Delhi Daredevils’ Rishabh Pant exposed chink in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s armour

Delhi Daredevils’ Rishabh Pant tore into the Sunrisers Hyderabad attack to sore a century in their 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) match.

On Wednesday evening, the eve of their tie against Delhi Daredevils (DD), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) coach Tom Moody had pointed out how his side’s bowlers have been helped by the wicket in Hyderabad, which is tough for batsmen, and how the Ferozeshah Kotla game could be a bit different. (DD vs SRH highlights)

Thanks to Rishabh Pant, Delhi Daredevils took 135 in the last 10 overs to reach 187 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) match, which eventually didn’t prove enough.(PTI)

He was proved right as a young Rishabh Pant tore into Sunrisers Hyderabad attack that had up until now been miserly. Thanks to Pant, Delhi Daredevils took 135 in the last 10 overs to reach 187 which though eventually didn’t prove enough. (DD vs SRH scorecard)

Right after the match, pace bowler Sandeep Sharma, one bowler who was spared, said that while their bowling has been good, they still need to think about situations like these. (IPL 2018 standings)

“Our plan was to bowl wide outside the off-stump because he generally hits well straight down the ground. However, he came up with strokes like the reverse scoop to negate that. Going forward, we need to have plans for players like him. How to get a player like him off-strike or how to minimise the damage that he does. So we’ll discuss that in the remaining matches,” said Sandeep.

It was one of the rare occasions that Sunrisers had conceded so many runs but as Moody had pointed out earlier, they had been bowling on helpful surfaces. Delhi Daredeviils bowling coach James Hopes too added that the Hyderabad ground is bigger in size meaning there are far lesser boundaries there than in Delhi, thereby helping the bowlers.

Sunrisers, as Sandeep pointed out, will need to take wickets with the new ball upfront when confronted with wickets like these. “There hasn’t been help in the wicket especially the movement and swing. So it is tough. But we have to improve and take wickets with new ball.”