There was no end to Delhi Daredevils' misery as the side crashed to its fourth successive defeat in the Pepsi Indian Premier League, losing a low-scoring see-saw contest by three wickets to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.
Even Virender Sehwag's presence failed to lift the side as all they could manage was a paltry 114 for eight after electing to bat at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.
Sehwag played his first game of the season and the side must have expected an inspiring start from him but the out-of-favour India opener could not help the side, whose cup of woes is now overflowing.
The batsmen yet again let the Delhi team down but the Hyderabad bowlers deserve the credit for keeping the hosts under constant pressure by regular strikes. The fortunes kept fluctuating in the low-scoring thriller but eventually Hyderabad huffed and puffed to win with four balls to spare.
It became a battle of nerves for the both the sides and Amit Mishra (16) and Dale Styen (9) steered their side home, with the latter finishing the match with a crushing straight drive off Irfan Pathan.
It was a shoddy batting display by the home side as well as the visitors. Hyderabad batsmen were far from comfortable in their chase and almost gifted Delhi their first win. Runs did not come easy for the visitors and they too lost wickets at regular intervals to keep Delhi in hunt.
Skipper Sangakkara (28) and Parthiv Patel (19) settled the innings after early loss of Akshath Reddy (1), who was run out. However, after Patel was caught by Shahbaz Nadeem in his follow through and Sangakkara was dismissed by Johan Botha, Delhi were back in the match.
Nadeem struck again when he had big-hitting Cameron White (4) stumped and the visitors had their heart in their mouth when Hanuma Vihari (17) was removed by Morne Morkel.
Hyderabad were now 71 for five in 15th over and soon slumped to 100 for seven but the win eluded Delhi again as Mishra kept his cool and played a match-winning cameo off 14 balls.
Earlier, Hyderabad played to their strength, with the disciplined bowling attack, piling on the misery on the Delhi batsmen, who have been struggling since the beginning of the tournament.
Sehwag's contribution was mere 12 runs as Delhi top-order failed again. Sangakkara was smart in captaincy as he shuffled his bowlers intelligently, never allowing Delhi batsmen to play freely on a wicket, which had uneven bounce.
Hyderabad bowlers, led by the lethal South African paceman, Dale Steyn, kept jolting the hosts with regular wickets by keeping a tight line and not giving any leeway. The fielders too supported them well.
Credit must got to Hyderabad bowlers but also Delhi batted poorly. Kedar Jadhav, who is in India's probables list for Champions Trophy, was the only batsman who batted with purpose, top scoring for Delhi with an unbeaten 30 off 20 balls.
Jadhav's 30-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Irfan Pathan (23) was highest for the hosts, who put on board the second lowest total of the season so far. Steyn (2-11), Thisara Perera (2-31) and Ishant Sharma (2-35) shared six wickets among them.
Steyn provided a spectacular start to his side by bowling a wicket-maiden as he dismissed in-form David Warner (0) in the fourth ball and almost got Jayawardene (12) the next ball, but Parthiv Patel grassed the tough chance.
Ishant Sharma dealt a double blow to the hosts by dismissing skipper Jayawardene and cutting short Sehwag's first outing of the season off successive balls in the fifth over. Concerned by the low run-rate, Jayawardene went for a big shot but miscued and found Steyn at mid-on, while Sehwag was caught brilliantly by Cameron White in the slip region.
Delhi's innings never got the momentum it needed and at the half-way mark, were gasping at 46 for four having lost Johan Botha in between. Manprit Juneja (15), too, left his side in a crisis when he handed a catch to White off Amit Mishra.
The sad story continued and Delhi just about managed to cross the 100-run mark.
Photograph: Dale Steyn of Sunrisers Hyderabad celebrates after getting the wicket of David Warner of Delhi Daredevils (BCCI)
