Fortune favours the brave. And Delhi Daredevils and the unheralded Karun Nair made the favourable opportunities count, too, as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad on the final ball of a do-or-die match for the eventual winners.
In a format where margins are thin and their batting weak, Nair backed himself to settle down even when the required run-rate crept up in their chase of Hyderabad’s total of 158 for seven.
When he eventually returned to the pavilion unbeaten, Nair had been at the wicket for 18.1 overs, his knock of 83 from 59 balls proving to be fortuitous but match-winning.
His captain Zaheer Khan was unperturbed by the manner of victory. “Everyone wanted to win this badly,” Zaheer told StarSports later.
“I had said, irrespective of the result, we are all going to smile out there. Great fight.
“This season is all about having that young energy around.”
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Hyderabad had themselves to blame to make the stay of Nair, 24, comfortable.
He was not given out when he edged a delivery to the wicketkeeper, when on 29.
He was also dropped by the dependable David Warner soon after reaching his half-century, the Hyderabad captain running in too hard for the catch.
“Our fielding was sloppy. I am responsible for that,” Warner said.
“Karun played an excellent knock. We got a game coming up. We got to refresh.”
Rishabh Pant (32) was an able ally for Nair during those overs but was run out just when the pair wanted to shift gears.
The out-of-form JP Duminy, whose sitter catch was dropped by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, showed an error of judgement by holing out next ball for a score of 17, leaving Nair to take charge of the late-hitting.
Despite Mustafizur Rahman’s tight spell of one of 24, Nair’s eight boundaries and three sixes ensured Delhi kept their play-off hopes alive.
Batting first, Hyderabad’s total was propped up by Warner’s knock of 73 runs. The opening partnership of Shikhar Dhawan and Warner put up a promising start of 46 in 6 overs.
But Dhawan was run out by Carlos Brathwaite. The latter then took two wickets as Hyderabad batsmen kept getting out soon after entering double digits while Warner plodded along for 56 balls.
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