CLT20 as it happened: Dhawan leads Sunrisers to easy win over Maroons

2305 IST Perera finishes off the game with a six. Sunrisers have raced to victory in their opening game. Plenty of hugs in the dug out. This was a dominant batting performance. The openers set it up and Perera finished it off. Dhawan explains that he did not bowl Mishra more because the wicket was not taking turn and Kandurata had a lot of left-handers in the batting line-up. But he says he plans to bowl Mishra more in the remaining matches. Thirimanne said his bowlers did not bowl according to plan and that they will have to do a better job. Herath apparently did not make it to Mohali in time for the game, and he will be in the XI for the next match. 2259 IST Perera comes out all guns blazing. He races to 21 from 8 deliveries, striking three fours and that huge six first ball After 18 overs, Sunrisers are 163/2. They need six to win from the last two overs. 2249 IST OUT! Dhawan tries one cheeky shot too many. Plays the reverse-sweep straight to point. Sunrisers are 136 for 2 after 16.1 overs. Dhawan c Kulasekara b Mendis 71 (53b, 11x4, 0x6) Thisara Perera is the new man and he thumps his first ball for SIX! 2248 IST Jayaratne comes back. Dhawan gets to a full wide delivery and slashes it square for a boundary. He wants to finish off the game as soon as he can. When Jayaratne is too full, Dhawan crunches a lofted cover drive to the fence. Kulasekera manages to get one to seam away a touch and draw Dhawan into nicking it, but Sangakarra puts down a tough chance. The ball was dying on him as he dove to his left. Got his fingertips to it but could not hold on. After 16 overs, Sunrisers are 136 for 1, with Dhawan on 71 and Duminy on 2. 2238 IST Dhawan, brimming with confidence, reverse-sweeps a full delivery from Mendis past third man. This is turning into a rout now. DROPPED! Dhawan tries to hit Jayasuriya over long-off but doesn’t time it. But instead of coming forward to take the catch, the fielder waits for it and the ball dies just before it reaches him. Two or three steps forward and Dhawan would have been on his way back to the pavilion. OUT! Parthiv Patel top edges a hoick and holes out to long-on. Kandurata at last have a wicket. Patel c Jayaratne b Jayasuriya 52 (42b 7x4 0x6) Sunrisers are 122 for 1 after 14 overs. 2231 IST Parthiv continues the assault by slog-sweeping Jayasuriya for four. A leg-bye brings up the team’s hundred in just the 11th over. Lokuhettige comes back. Kandurata rotating through all their bowlers but none of them getting anything out of the pitch. Dhawan gets to his half-century with a single to long-on. He needed 35 balls, and struck eight boundaries. Parthiv gets to his fifty off the next ball, also with a single. Took him 37 balls. After 12 overs, Sunrisers are 110 for no loss. 2224 IST Slower delivery from Lokuhettige beats Dhawan but the inside edge beats legstump and the batsman picks up two more. That was the second best over of the night for the bowling side – just six coming from it. Jayasuriya comes back and Dhawan sweeps him one bounce over the midicket rope. Then cuts him away though the offside. 12 come off the over, compared to just two from Jayasuriya’s first over. The batsmen looking completely untroubled here. Mendis slows things down a touch, giving awaay just four runs from the ninth over. Thirimanne brings back Jayarate and Partiv takes to him this time, guiding a full toss through cover and then smashing the bowler past a startled fielder at long-on. After 10 overs, Sunrisers are 92 for no loss, with Parthiv on 41 and Dhawan on 46 2208 IST Dhawan cracks a straight drives powerfully past Kulasekara. There was no stopping that one. Nine from the over. On comes Ajantha Mendis, as Kandurata search for a wicket. Strays down the leg and Dhawan says thank you and he sweeps him behind square to bring up his team’s 50 in the sixth over. Then he creams Mendis through the offside. Picked the carom ball. He then makes it three in a row with another swing to leg. Sunrisers racing away now. After 6 overs, they are 58 for no loss, with Dhawan on 31 and Parthiv on 24. 2158 IST Kulasekara replaces Jayasuriya and gets a big of stick from Parthiv, who clips him to backward square, then punches him off the backfoot through extra cover. 11 from in the over in total. Sunrisers starting to get a move on. Lokuhettige comes on and Dhawan picks up his first boundary with a powerful pull, then clips a full toss through midwicket for four more. After four overs, Sunrisers are 35 for no loss, with Parthiv on 20 and Dhawan on 11 2148 IST Kandurata open the bowling with an offspinner in Jayasuriya. Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan are the batsmen. A quiet over with Jayasuriya, who fires them in flat and straight. Just two from it. Not even a hint of turn, moving Ian Bishop to say if he does turn one, Bishop will run 10 laps. Lahiru Jayaratne shares the new ball. Parthiv muscles him to the deep cover for the first boundary of the innings. Ends the over with another boundary. After two overs, Sunrisers are 14 for no loss. 2130 IST Lokuhettige slaps one back at Steyn and the bowler is hurt. Seems to have caught him on the bowling hand. He gets a bit of attention from the physio and that is enough enough to allow him to finish the over. Perera bowls the final over. Lokuhettige slams the first ball – a low full toss – deep over the long on boundary. Perera manages to limit the damage the rest of the way though, and 11 comes off the over in the end. Kanurata Maroons finish with 168 for 3, with Sangakkara making 61 not out and Lokuhettige ending up an unbeaten 21. 2117 IST Steyn comes for his second spell. Sangakkara slips inside a Steyn delivery and guides to the third man boundary for four to end the over. That makes it 10 from the over after Ishant conceded 14 in his. Kandurata accelerating here. Perera bowls the 18th over, which means Dhawan has no confidence in his spinners. Lokuhettige slams Perera straight down the ground first ball. Sangakkara then reaches his 50 with a pull off a full toss from Perera. Took him just 36 balls. Then great improvising as he moves across his stumps and helps a full delivery to the fine leg fence. 16 from the over. After 18 overs, KM are 152 for 3. 2107 IST Amit Mishra finally comes on to bowl the 15th over. Sangakkara moves across his stumps and sweeps powerfully to pick up four. Nine comes off the over as this pair continues along untroubled. The pitch looks flat and good to bat on. There could be some big hitting to come. Ishant comes back and Thirimanne carves a full delivery past point and beats the man om the fence as well. Gets to his 50 with a single down the ground. Good knock from the Kanduarata captain. Taken him 37 balls, and contains four fours and two sixes. He muscles Ishant over mid on but the bowler strikes back with a yorker that crashes into the stumps. Thirimanne b I Sharma 54 (39b, 5x4, 2x6) After 16 overs, KM are 126 for 3. Ishant finishes with 2 for 20. Dilhara Lokuhettige is the new man. 2058 IST Thirimanne looking in good nick here. Pulls a short ball from Duminy powerfully through square for another four. Plenty of short stuff from the Hyderbad bowlers so far today. They pick up 10 runs from this over as well, making 46 from the last 5. These two putting their feet down and taking control. Perera continues. Sangakkara pulls another short ball to the fence to bring up his team’s 100. After 14 overs, KM are 103 for 2, with Sangakkara on 32 and Thirimanne on 41. 2050 IST Sammy’s last over. Cheeky stuff from Sangakkara. Moves across his stumps and scoops Sammy over the keeper and to the fence. Thirimanne helps himself when Sammy strays down leg. 10 from the over. 28 have come from the last three overs. Sammy finishes with 1 for 31 from his 4 overs. Thisara Perera comes on and Thirimanne takes a couple of steps and cross bats him straight down the ground for SIX! He brings up the 50-partnership with a single off the next ball. Took 38 deliveries. After 12 overs, KM are 85/2 with Sangakkara on 25 (23) and Thirimanne on 30 (24) 2040 IST Thirimanne brings up Kandurata’s 50 with a single behind point off Sammy. Ends the over by charging Sammy and slapping just past the outstretched arms of mid-off and away to the boundary. Nine from the over. Thirimanne chips down the track and carves Duminy over cover for six. Sweetly timed that one. Nine from the over again. After 10 overs, KM are 66 for 2. 2033 IST Sammy gets pulled away for four by Sangakkara after one dropping short but comes back to beat Sangakkara outside offstump. Duminy’s offspin replaces Ishant’s pace. Thirimmane tries to hoick him out of the ground but fails. The batsmen settle for knocking the ball around instead. After 8 overs, KM are 48 for 2. Sangakkara is on 14 and Thirimanne on 5. 2025 IST Ishant has bowled 2 overs for 2 runs and taken a wicket. Darren Sammy replaces Steyn. Comes in for a bit of stick as Jayasuriya gets off the mark with a four to third man but Sammy has the last laugh. The ball doesn’t bounce as much as Jayasuriya expects and he gets an under age to the keeper trying to force the ball through the offside. Jayasuriya c Patel b Sammy 4 (7b, 1x4, 0x6) After 5 overs, KM are 33/2. Thirimanne is the new batsman. 2017 IST Ishant strikes. Tharanga has a cross-batted swipe and only succeeds in nicking it to the keeper. Tharanga c †Patel b I Sharma 19 (18b, 4x4, 0x6) KM are 25/1. Kumar Sangakkara is the new man. 2015 IST After 3 overs, Kandurata are 25/0, with Tharanga on 19 and Jayasuriya on 0. We are living in bizarro world. Ishant produces a tidy first over, conceding just one run. Then Tharanga crashes Steyn through the offside off consecutive balls for four. The shots were just pushes, but raced off the bat. 2005 IST The umpires and players are out on the field, with Dhawan leading his side out. Dale Steyn naturally opens the bowling. The two openers are Upul Tharanga and Sheshan Jayasuriya. Starts with a wide down legside. Hasn’t played much cricket lately, has Steyn, and that was definitely a loosener. Next ball is a touch straighter but on the pads and Tharanga tucks him to fine leg for four. Would have been a good delivery to a right-hander though. Ishant then allows the ball to beat him on the boundary behind square. Ran quite gingerly with no real chance of getting to the ball. Steyn was not impressed. One more on the legside goes for four as well. Wayward from Steyn. Excellent start for Kandurata - 15 from the first over. 1950 IST Ian Bishop reckons that the ball will skid on to the ball nicely on this pitch. Gives the edge to the team batting second as batting becomes easier as the game goes on. That would be the Sunrisers. 1940 IST Here are the playing XIs: Sunrisers: S Dhawan, P Patel, JP Duminy, B Samantray, D Sammy, T Perera, AA Reddy, K Sharma, A Mishra, D Steyn, A Rajan. Duminy takes Cameron White’s place, which means neither of Hyderabad’s IPL captains are playing this game. Kandurata: DSNFG Jayasuriya, WU Tharanga, KC Sangakkara†, HDRL Thirimanne*, LPC Silva, SHT Kandamby, KS Lokuarachchi, LHD Dilhara, KMDN Kulasekara, PLM Jayaratne, BAW Mendis. 1935 IST In an interview on Star Sports, Tom Moody, the Sunrisers Hyderabad coach, explains how Dhawan was given the captaincy. Cameron White and Kumar Sangakkara were the captains during the IPL, but Moody felt Dhawan, who has led Delhi in the past, had leadership potential. It was done with an eye on the future of the franchise, with the team looking to build around Dhawan. 1930 IST Shikhar Dhawan has won the toss and Sunrisers Hyderabad will bowl first against Kandurata Maroons. He said teams that chase tend to win on this ground. Preview Two star-studded sides Sunrisers Hyderabad, led by Delhi-dasher Shikhar Dhawan, and Sri Lanka’s Kandurata Maroons, led by Lahiru Thirimane, face off in the second qualifier at the PCA stadium. Sunrisers can boast of the likes of Parthiv Patel, Cameron White, Darren Sammy, Dale Steyn, Thisara Perera and Ishant Sharma. Kandurata have three strong spinners in Rangana Herath, Ajantha Mendis and Suraj Randiv, but Sunrisers’ versatility in attack which was one of the strongest in the IPL, should give them the edge. [caption id=“attachment_1115281” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Shikhar Dhawan. BCCI[/caption] Dhawan has Sangakkara to thank for being named captain. The left-handed Sri Lankan batsman opted to play for the Maroons, and therefore will be able to give his team inside intelligence on their opponents. For Dhawan, captaincy is a new challenge and he said he is looking forward to it. Meanwhile Thirimanne, has plenty of international experience to call on, giving his team a good balance of youth and experience. “We are a young team but some of our players are very experienced and that makes for a very good combination,” the Maroons skipper said. Squads Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Parthiv Patel, Cameron White, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, Darren Sammy, Biplab Samantray, Thisara Perera, Karan Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Ashish Reddy, Ishant Sharma, Anand Rajan. Kandurata Maroons: Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Upul Tharanga, Thilina Kandamby, Kumar Sangakkara, Shehan Jayasuriya, Chamara Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Dhammika Prasad, Ajantha Mendis, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Lahiru Jayaratne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Suraj Randiv. With inputs from PTI