Images from the IPL 2025 match between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
Faf Du Plessis' excellent fifty and Mitchell Starc's five-wicket haul were the lead acts in Delhi Capitals' comprehensive seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL match in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
Du Plessis (50, 27b, 3x4, 3x6) added 81 runs with his opening partner Jake Fraser-McGurk (38, 32b) as the Capitals overhauled Hyderabad's inadequate 163 all out in 16 overs, for their second win on the trot.
Once DC openers made a quick start off the block, the result was never in doubt, but their approach was vastly different.
Du Plessis wound the clock back with some stunning shots, such as a straight six off Pat Cummins.
But at other end, McGurk was struggling for his timing, partly because of his exaggerated back-lift and partly because of his desire to hit all the ball out of the park.
However, his senior partner was willing to do the heavy-lifting and brought up his fifty in 26 balls.
The South African thus became the third 40-plus batter to score a 50 in the IPL after Adam Gilchrist and Chris Gayle.
But the alliance was snapped when debutant leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari (3/42) dismissed Du Plessis, who departed after Wiaan Mulder took a brilliant running catch to the join the list of stunning catchers in the evening.
The impressive 25-year-old Ansari, who once was a part of India Under-19 World Cup squad which also had Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar back in the day, soon got rid of McGurk and KL Rahul in quick succession to reduce DC to 115 for three in the 12th over but that was not even enough to create artificial excitement.
Abhishek Porel (34 not out, 18 balls) and Tristan Stubbs (21 not out, 14 balls) joined for a 51-run stand for the fourth wicket to push SRH to their second successive defeat in this IPL.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals' pacer Mitchell Starc stole the show with a five-wicket haul to send Sunrisers Hyderabad crashing for 163.
Aniket Verma counter-attacked with an aggressive knock of 74 from 41 balls, hitting six sixes and five fours, to rescue SRH after they were reeling on 37/4 in the fifth over.
Electing to bat, SRH suffered an early blow when Abhishek Sharma was run out for one in the first over, as Vipraj Nigam caught him short with an underarm throw from point.
Ishan Kishan, who hit a century in SRH's opening match, perished in Starc's second over as he hit a short wide delivery straight to Tristan Stubbs at deep point to fall for two.
The Australian pacer struck a double blow in the third over when he got Nitish Reddy caught at mid-on for a duck after he threw his wicket away attempting a wild swing across the line as he miscued the slower ball.
Aniket held the stumbling SRH innings together through a 77-run alliance with Heinrich Klaasen (32 from 19 balls) until the latter fell to a brilliant catch by Nigam off Mohit Sharma.
Aniket, waited for spinners to come into attack and Axar was his favoured whipping boy -- smacking him for four sixes.
The 22-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, who was dropped on six by Abhishek Porel off Axar, smashed his way to a fifty off 34 balls, his first in a nascent four-match IPL career.
The right-hander scored runs at a strike-rate of 194 against the spinners, and was more cautious against pacers but still struck them around at 148.
Aniket looked for a hundred but Jake Fraser-McGurk's athletic catch, which was a feature of Delhi fielding on the day, in the deep off Kuldeep ended his stint, and with it the hopes of SRH of reaching a bigger total too evaporated.
DC's fielding was top class as they took some stunning catches. Axar and Faf du Plesiss came up with brilliant catches in the space of two to dismiss Harshal Patel and Wiaan Mulder in the 19th over as Starc completed a brilliant five-wicket haul.
Starc, who finished with 5/35 in 3.4 overs bagged his first five-wicket in T20 cricket and only the second by a Delhi Capitals bowler.
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