Axar leads Delhi Capitals to second win of IPL 2023

Delhi Capitals (DC) coasted to their second win of the season, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by seven runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal, Hyderabad, on Monday night.

Batting first, DC lost the wicket of Phil Salt on the third ball of the match before skipper David Warner (21 off 20 balls) and Mitchell Marsh (25 off 15) added 38 for the second wicket in just over four overs.

Marsh’s wicket, second of the innings, did not bother the Capitals much as both Warner and Sarfaraz (10 off 9) carried the team beyond the power-play.

However, the eighth over bowled by Washington Sundar (3/28) rattled the Capitals as they lost three wickets in that over. Warner was the first to go, holing out to deep square leg off a slog sweep while Sarfaraz met the same end with a similar shot. Aman Hakim Khan fell on the last ball of the over, caught at cover.

It was then left to Axar Patel (34 off 34 balls) and Manish Pandey (34 off 27) to resurrect the innings – the two adding 69 runs for the sixth wicket in 9.5 overs.

Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was impressive for SRH as he picked 2/11 in his four overs.

SRH weak response

In the face of impressive bowling by Capitals’ pacers, SRH found the going tough early on. Opener Harry Brook (7 off 14) struggled to score while Mayank Agarwal (49 off 39) and Rahul Tripathi took their time (15 off 21). Then, three quick wickets in the 13th, 14th and 15th overs pegged SRH back.

Heinrich Klaasen (31 off 19) and Washington Sundar (24 off 15) fought back to keep SRH in the game but DC’s spin duo Axar Patel (2/21) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/22) had already done the damage.

This was DC’s seventh match. The team had lost its first five matches.