Ashutosh Sharma shows ‘real impact’, saves Delhi Capitals from embarrassment against SRH

Ashutosh Sharma has given the Delhi Capitals (DC) a glimmer of hope. It seemed like Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) had already won the match by the end of the 8th over. Delhi were five down and scored just 30 runs. Karun Nair, Faf du Plessis, Abhishek Sharma, KL Rahul and Axar Patel had all departed.

Delhi didn’t throw in the towel, but victory wasn’t viable. Tristan Stubbs and Vipraj Nigam toughed it out for the next couple of overs. The plan seemed simple. Lose no wickets until the 15th over and then try to get as many runs as possible. Theorising things isn’t difficult; practically doing it is.

Ashutosh Sharma throws wrench into SRH plans

Vipraj and Stubbs had just gotten going, but then an unfortunate run-out derailed things. It turns out that it was what Delhi needed. Ashutosh came in and destabilised Sunrisers’ plans. He took on the bowlers while Stubbs continued to play second fiddle.

In the 15th over, he took on Zeeshan Ansari. His two sixes brought Delhi back in the game. The run rate was nearly 6 now. A couple of hits in the 17th over took the Axar Patel-led side past the 100-run mark. By the time he departed in the 20th over, Delhi had scored 128 runs.

Ashutosh added 66 runs with Stubbs in 7.3 overs. He scored 41 runs from just 26 balls as Stubbs failed to get going. Apart from being the top scorer for Delhi, Ashutosh also had the best strike rate. Stubbs scored the same number of runs but took 10 more balls, albeit his role was very different.

The pitch wasn’t easy to bat on. And had Ashutosh come in earlier, it would have been tough for him. But coming into the 13th over worked in his favour. Delhi had given him the finisher’s job, and he’s excelled at it once again.

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