Dhawan, Stoinis & Rabada see Capitals into first IPL final
Delhi Capitals reached the final of the Indian Premier League for the first time as a tremendous batting display powered them to a 17-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Shikhar Dhawan (78) and Marcus Stoinis (38) combined for an opening partnership of 86 in Sunday’s second qualifier.
An unbeaten 42 from Shimron Hetmyer helped Delhi to 189-3, a total that proved beyond Sunrisers despite the best efforts of Kane Williamson (67) and Abdul Samad (33).
They were each well set at the crease at the start of the 17th over with Sunrisers needing a manageable 51 off 24 deliveries.
However, Stoinis and Kagiso Rabada ensured there was to be no dramatic finish as the Capitals made history.
Delhi will face Mumbai Indians in Tuesday’s final.
ALL OR NOTHING DHAWAN DELIVERS
Dhawan came into this game with three ducks in his last four innings, the sole exception being a half-century against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
He rekindled the form he demonstrated against RCB, hitting six fours and a pair of sixes but his exit to a Sandeep Sharma full toss in the penultimate over played a role in Delhi failing to get to 200.
STOINIS & RABADA SEAL IT
Stoinis played a key role in setting the platform for Delhi alongside Dhawan and proved the key man with the ball with figures of 3-26.
His third wicket was the critical one, as Williamson sliced a wide delivery to Rabada at deep cover.
Rabada (4-29) then produced a stunning penultimate over, removing Samad, Rashid Khan and Shreevats Goswami in the space of three legal deliveries – the latter two sandwiched by a wide – to effectively end the Sunrisers’ hopes.
