Dubai: Kevin Pietersen failed to fire in his first match for Delhi Daredevils as Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on a brilliant batting show by Aaron Finch and David Warner to notch up a narrow four-run win in an IPL match here today.
Electing to bat, Hyderabad scored a formidable 184 for one with Aaron (88) and Warner (58) stitching a 128-run stand for the unconquered second wicket and then restricted Delhi to 180 for four to record their first win of the season at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Chasing a stiff target of 185 for a win, Delhi were on course at 86 for no loss at the end of first 10 overs but ran out of steam once openers Quinton de Kock (48) and Murali Vijay (52) were out in successive overs, 12th and 13th respectively.
J P Duminy (20 off 7 balls) and Manoj Tiway (23 off 13 balls) made a last ditched effort but in vain. Their valiant efforts took the game down to the wire but the asking rate had gone too high for the duo to take their side to victory.
Daredevils captain Pietersen, who made it to the playing eleven after recovering from a finger injury, struggled in his first match this season as he looked rusty and tentative, before falling for 16 in the 17th over.
Coming out to bat at number three in the 12th over at the fall of de Kock's wicket, Pietersen, who was bought this by Delhi for a whopping Rs 9 crores, took four balls to open his account and then could not hit a boundary for 13 deliveries when the team needed them to bring down the asking rate.
By the time, he opened up with a six off Darren Sammy in the penultimate ball of the 16th over, the asking rate has shot up to over 14 runs.
In fact, Delhi lost momentum in the five overs between 12th and 16th when Pietersen and Dinesh Karthik (15) were batting. Both fell in successive balls in the 17th over off the bowling of fast bowler Dale Steyn.
Delhi needed 49 from the last three overs and Tiwary and Duminy hit a flurry of fours and sixes to give themselves a chance. Delhi needed 20 runs from the final over but Duminy and Tiwary could score only 15 to lose the match by four runs.
For Hyderabad, Steyn took two wickets for 33 runs while Karn Sharma and Darren Sammy got one apiece.
