Delhi Capitals (DC) confirmed their berth in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League 2019 (IPL) after knocking out Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator on Wednesday. Chasing a target of 163, DC won the match by two wickets as the match went into the final over. Shreyas Iyer’s men will now face MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Qualifier 2 on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final against Mumbai Indians (MI). A total of 139 runs were scored by Martin Guptill (36), Manish Pandey (30), Kane Williamson (28), Vijay Shankar (25) and Mohammad Nabi (20) as the rest of the batsmen were dismissed in single figures. As many as 10 extras were conceded by the DC bowlers as SRH finished at 162/8. In reply, DC got off to a powerful start, but Shikhar Dhawan was stumped by Wriddhiman Saha after scoring 17 runs. However, Prithvi Shaw brought up his fourth IPL fifty, his second this season. With Shaw being dismissed, the momentum slightly shifted to SRH as Afghanistan’s mystery spinner Rashid Khan dismissed Colin Munro and Rashid Khan. With DC struggling at 111/5, Rishabh Pant was unfortunate to miss out on a half-century after Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed the youngster. The major breakthrough for DC came when 22 runs were hit off Basil Thampi’s over which included two fours and a six. However, a lot of drama unfolded in the final over when Amit Mishra was dismissed for obstructing the field. Mishra was looking for a run in some real hurry, but when bowler Khaleel Ahmed was about to throw at the stumps Mishra came right at the middle and the ball had a contact with his elbow. Nevertheless, despite being under huge pressure, Keemo Paul sealed the match with a four as he played a pull shot racing past Vijay Shankar who was fielding in the deep. With DC setting up the Qualifier 2 clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday, here is how Twitter responded. Sehwag praises 'game-changer' Rishabh Pant What a match. What a tournament @IPL is. Well played Delhi and exceptional knock from @RishabPant777 - The gamechanger #DCvSRH — Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) May 8, 2019 What did you feel on Rishabh Pant's performance? Absolutely insane from Pant to hole out like that with victory just a few runs away. Such self indulgence can prove costly in this match. Also sends wrong signal to selectors — Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 8, 2019 A tough IPL to predict! so the three teams that finished on 18 points each after the group stage remain alive in the tournament... #DCvSRH #IPL2019 — Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) May 8, 2019 Are you in the Rishabh Pant fan club yet? Am firmly now in the Rishabh Pant fan club. — Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) May 8, 2019 All hail the talented DC squad! Watching Delhi this year has been so much fun. A team chock-full of young Indian talent, supplemented with a combination of dynamic overseas batsmen (Ingram & Munro), talented all rounders (Paul & Rutherford) & gun bowlers (Rabada, Morris, Lamichhane & Boult). #IPL #DCvSRH — Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) May 8, 2019 A lot of drama unfolded in the end! Delhi Capitals are the grandest trolls of this edition. Winning, oh not yet, almost, ya done, oh wait, obstructing the field!, victory — Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) May 8, 2019 The win came the hard way for DC! Why do it easy when tough is possible!!!! #DC are through. But not without raising heartbeats. Well done 👍 the three best teams of the #IPL are the last three standing. #DCvSRH — Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 8, 2019 DC gets a lifeline!<doc-sep>Visakhapatnam: Young Keemo Paul gave the final touches to a Rishabh Pant blitzkrieg as Delhi Capitals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by two wickets in a nerve-wracking IPL Eliminator on Wednesday. Chasing a target of 163, Delhi Capitals, who had lost the way after a blazing start, were brought to cusp of victory by young Pant, who smashed 49 off 21 balls with five sixes as West Indies' Paul finished it off the penultimate ball of the innings with a boundary off Khaleel Ahmed. Pant, who resurrected the innings from a precarious 111 for 5 couldn't have chosen a better venue than chairman of selectors MSK Prasad's home ground to drive home a point on his much dbated World Cup exclusion. It was a sense of déjà vu for Paul, who had similarly hit winning runs in an U-19 World Cup final in 2016 when Khaleel was the bowler in the final over. Delhi Capital now face Chennai Super Kings in the second Qualifier in their bid to make it to the maiden IPL final against Mumbai Indians. Needing 34 from three overs, Pant showed brilliant game awareness to target Sunrisers' weakest link Basil Thampi, smashing him for 21 runs in the 18th over as he brought the game on even keel. A six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought the equation down to five runs before Pant in his bid to finish the game was holed out with five required from seven balls. When the chase started, Prithvi Shaw (56 off 38 balls) was in his element in the fifth over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar when he first played a flowing cover drive, followed by a ramp shot for six over third man and a lofted boundary over mid-off to put Sunrisers on the backfoot. Sensing that Prithvi has taken the lead, senior partner Shikhar Dhawan (17) after collecting three boundaries started playing the second fiddle with 55 coming off Powerplay overs. One of the most regal shots played by Prithvi was a six over long-on when he gave off-spinner Deepak Hooda the charge. In the same over, Wriddhiman Saha effected a smart stumping down leg-side to see the end of Dhawan even as Prithvi completed his 50 off 31 balls. However just like Sunrisers, Delhi also lost momentum at start of the back-10 with Khaleel's extra pace and bounce accounting for Prithvi and skipper Shreyas Iyer (8). Prithvi's innings had six fours and two sixes. It was Rashid Khan (2/15 in 4 overs), who them removed Colin Munro (14) and Axar Patel (0) to peg back Delhi at 111 for 5. Pant, who teed off with a six off Mohammed Nabi, hit him for a second six as 42 runs were required off the last four overs when Pant changed the match. Earlier, Delhi Capitals bowlers pulled the plug in the middle overs, restricting Sunrisers Hyderabad to a par score of 162 for 8 on a good batting surface after opting to field. Keemo Paul (3/32 in 4 overs) was ably supported by Amit Mishra (1/16 in 4 overs), Ishant Sharma (2/34 in 4 overs) and Axar Patel (0/30 in 4 overs) as the quartet bowled 40 dot balls between them. Ishant got rid of Wriddhiman Saha (8), who offered a simple catch to Shreyas Iyer at mid-off. Martin Guptill (36, 19 balls) hit three sixes including two off his countrymate Trent Boult to set the pace in the Powerplay overs which yielded 54 runs. Credit to Delhi bowlers as the next 14 overs produced only 108 runs. As Guptill was in attacking mood, it gave the normally flamboyant Manish Pandey (30, 36 balls) to play around before the spinners came in operation. Axar and Mishra choked the run-flow and Guptill was accounted for trying to slog sweep the leg-spinner. His innings had four sixes apart from a boundary. Sunrisers suddenly lost momentum in those middle overs as Pandey and Kane Williamson (27 off 26 balls) added only 34 runs in seven overs before he Karnataka batsman was dismissed by a Keemo Paul slower delivery. Pandey was holed out by Sherfane Rutherford at long-on boundary making it 90 for 3 for Sunrisers. Ishant coming in his second spell bowled the perfect inswinging yorker to send back Williamson. Vijay Shankar (25 off 11 balls) and Mohammed Nabi (20 off 13 balls) added 36 runs in 2.4 overs to beef up the total but Paul kept things tight in the end.<doc-sep>The caravan of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has reached Vizag and on Wednesday evening, Delhi Capitals (DC) will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a knock-out game in this coastal city. The winner of this contest will stay back in Vizag to play Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Qualifier 2 on Friday in a quest to reach the grand finale, scheduled to be played in Hyderabad on 12 May. Both teams have beaten each other once during the league stages. However, having won four out of their previous five fixtures, Delhi should have the upper hand in terms of form and confidence coming into this fixture. Hyderabad are a balanced team too, and on a low and slow track, which is expected at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, their bowling attack seems better equipped than their counterparts. Overall, with quality players in both camps, we can certainly expect a closely-fought contest. Here’s a look at some of the key battles between the top players from both sides that could eventually end up determining the outcome of this fixture. Rishabh Pant vs Rashid Khan Perhaps the most anticipated player battle in this Eliminator will be the clash between Rishabh Pant and Rashid Khan. Both are flamboyant cricketers and regarded as superstars in contemporary cricket. In IPL, they play crucial roles in the scheme of things of their respected franchises. For Delhi, batting at No 4, Pant's role is to take control of their batting in the middle-overs, whereas Rashid's leg-break is Hyderabad's premier wicket-taking option. And if the wicket offers some grip and spin, the leggie can turn out to be a tough proposition to handle. Hence, being a left-hander, ideally, Pant is the man for Delhi to take on Rashid in those middle as well as death overs. With the ball coming in, it will be easier for the southpaw to keep the tweaker at bay. However, Rashid has a very deceptive wrong' un which can outfox a batsman, if he tries to go after him premeditatedly. So, if Pant gets to face Rashid in this game, the fans can expect a mouth-watering contest between them. Shikhar Dhawan vs Mohammad Nabi With 486 runs in 14 innings, Shikhar Dhawan is Delhi's in-form batsman. In this season, he has provided solidity at the top. So, going into this high-pressure game, Delhi will be heavily banking on his experience and form to provide them a steady beginning. And against his previous franchise, who let him go before this season, Dhawan would certainly look to prove a point. In hindsight, to counter the Dhawan threat, Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson will use the off-spin of Mohammad Nabi inside the powerplay. He bowls wicket-to-wicket and the new ball skids on. So, Nabi will try to bring leg-before into play, especially against left-handers. Also, for someone like Dhawan, who likes to sweep against spinners, there is always a chance of top-edging the ball. In fact, he was dismissed against Nabi exactly in that fashion, when both these teams met on the previous occasion. Martin Guptill vs Trent Boult In this Hyderabad team, Martin Guptill has been asked to take the role of David Warner, ever since the in-form Aussie opener has left for national duties. Quite understandably, it is tough for Guptill to come into the mix and straightaway start replicating the kind of impact Warner was having for the 'Orange Army' earlier this season. Nevertheless, as an international recruit, Guptill will be keen on showing his worth in this crunch game. And on a slow pitch, he has to make use of the field restrictions by going after the new ball bowlers. For Delhi, Guptill's New Zealand teammate Trent Boult will take the new ball. He is the back-up option of Kagiso Radaba, who has been ruled out IPL due to an injury. The left-arm seamer is wicket-taker with the upfront and very much aware of the hitting areas of Guptill. So, between these two Kiwi cricketers, we will have an interesting duel in this encounter. Kane Williamson vs Amit Mishra Kane Williamson has got runs in his previous two innings for Sunrisers and as a batsman, it seems his bad patch is finally over. The skipper is the backbone of this Hyderabad middle-order. He is a good player of spin and on Wednesday slow bowlers are expected to bowl the majority of the overs. And with someone like Amit Mishra there in the Delhi bowling line-up, who took 3 for 17 in the last match against Rajasthan Royals, Williamson will be facing a stiff challenge. Shreyas Iyer vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer has been nothing short of a revelation with the bat in this season of IPL. With 442 runs in 14 knocks, the youngster has been consistent and effective, unlike some of his other colleagues who bat in the middle-order. Iyer plays the anchor role and others bat around him. So, in order to expose the vulnerable Delhi line-up, Hyderabad have to target him as soon as possible, and with the new ball, the experience of Bhuvneshwar Kumar might come handy for them in this regard. On a slow pitch, his accurate medium-pace will make the batsman think. It will be interesting to notice how the Mumbaikar counters this challenge. For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from IPL 2019, click here For the full schedule, date, time and venue of all the matches of IPL 12, click here Check out the full points table for IPL 2019, including holders of Orange and Purple Caps<doc-sep>
Remember the 2016 Under-19 World Cup final? Remember Keemo Paul scoring the winning runs off Khaleel Ahmed in the final over to lead West Indies to glory? History repeated itself on Wednesday (May 8) in Visakhapatnam when Paul belted Khaleel for a boundary on the penultimate delivery of the 2019 IPL Eliminator to lead Delhi Capitals to a nail-biting two-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, it was Prithvi Shaw (38 off 56) and Rishabh Pant's (21-ball 49) sparkling knocks that set up the 163-run chase for Delhi and helped them to win their first knockout game in the history of the tournament. Delhi will now play Chennai Super Kings in the second qualifier at the same venue on Friday. The winner of this encounter will face Mumbai Indians for the 2019 title in Hyderabad on Sunday. Asked to bat, Wriddhiman Saha (8) fell to Ishant Sharma (2 for 34) early in the innings but Guptill played some blistering shots inside six overs to help Hyderabad get past the 50-run mark in the powerplay for the 12th time this season. The surface looked solid for batting when Trent Boult and Ishant were bowling and Guptill made the most of it. The right-handed opener from New Zealand smashed four maximums in his 19-ball 36 before getting caught at deep mid-wicket off the bowling of Amit Mishra (1 for 16). The leg-spinner along with Axar Patel and Keemo Paul tied down Hyderabad's middle order and didn't allow them to dictate terms. Manish Pandey (36-ball 30) and Kane Williamson (27-ball 28) added 34 runs for the third wicket but failed to bring any momentum in the innings. Hyderabad could only manage 39 runs in next eight overs after the powerplay and that led to Pandey and Williamson's downfall. While Pandey fell to Paul, Williamson was undone by a superb yorker from Ishant. Hyderabad were in a desperate need of some quick runs and they got that from Vijay (11-ball 25) and Nabi (13-ball 20). The two kept hitting boundaries and helped Hyderabad collect 58 runs in the final five overs. In response, Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan (16-ball 17) added 66 runs in 7.3 overs to get Hyderabad off to a fantastic start. However, it was the 19-year-old who did most of the scoring. Shaw, who has struggled this season except for one innings, slammed Khaleel Ahmed for three fours in one over to bring some early momentum in his innings. The right-hander then smashed Bhuvneshwar Kumar all around the park and brought up his fifty in 31 deliveries. Dhawan was stumped off Deepak Hooda's bowling while playing a needless heave and then Khaleel removed Shreyas Iyer (8) and Shaw in the same over to reduce Delhi to 87 for 3 and bring Hyderabad back in the game. Needing 76 in the final nine overs, Colin Munro (14) played a couple of big shots before getting outfoxed by Rashid Khan. The legspinner then removed Axar in the same over to finish with the figures of 2 for 15 and brought the equation down to 52 off 30. The entire burden then fell on the young but capable shoulders of Rishabh Pant. The wicketkeeper-batsman smoked Nabi for two sixes to open up his shoulders but found no support from Sherfane Rutherford at the start. The West Indian finally broke the shackles by lifting Bhuvneshwar for a six down the ground. However, Pant completely changed the game by thumping Basil Thampi for 4, 6, 4 and 6 in the 18th over to leave 12 runs to get in as many deliveries. He then tonked Bhuvneshwar for a maximum but then mistimed one to the long-off fielder to walk back to the pavilion with still five runs needed. Paul and Mishra played the first couple of deliveries smartly before the latter was given out for obstructing the field in the fourth delivery. With two needed off two deliveries, Paul hammered Khaleel's back of a length delivery towards deep mid-wicket to get the job done for Delhi.