A good showing with the ball saw Delhi Capitals register their third successive win, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 39 runs in an IPL 2019 game at Hyderabad on Sunday.
Set 156 to win, SRH collapsed like a pack of cards as they went from 101/2 in the 16th over to 116 all out in 18.5 overs with Kagiso Rabada (4-22), Keemo Paul (3-17) and Chris Morris (3-22) running through the home side's batting order.
The Sunrisers started strongly as openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow looked to score quickly. While the former found the going tough early, the Englishman had no such issues.
The two managed to put together a 72-run partnership before Bairstow went for a big shot off Keemo Paul that flew straight to Kagiso Rabada at long-on.
The pair combined to great effect again when a slower ball from Paul saw Kane Williamson chip one into the air, with Rabada charging in from mid-off to complete the catch.
Warner began to try and attack the bowling but was unable to get enough big shots to alleviate the pressure. But it was the moment when he lost another partner in Ricky Bhui in the 16th over that turned the game around.
With 52 runs needed off the final four overs, Warner looked to attack Rabada but ended up top edging one that Shreyas Iyer did well to catch, back peddling from mid-on.
Vijay Shankar departed off the very next ball, getting a top edge on a short ball that went high and was eventually claimed by Rishabh Pant.
The game had now swung Delhi's way. Chris Morris then got rid of Deepak Hooda and Rashid Khan off successive deliveries, the former clean bowled while the latter went aerial but only found Paul in the deep.
Morris didn't get a hat-trick but he did claim a third wicket in the over when Abhishek Sharma looked to go big but ended up slicing one high that was caught by Paul at mid-off.
Rabada then finished the match off by dismissing both Bhuvneshar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed in the 19th over.
Earlier after being put in to bat, DC could only muster 155 in their 20 overs as an inspired bowling show from Khaleel and Bhuvneshwar prevented most of the away team's batsman from getting a big score.
Ahmed (3-30) and Bhuvneshwar (2-33) took five wickets between them as the Capitals lost wickets at regular intervals and failed to get what would be considered a competitive score in this format, especially on a wicket that wasn't the toughest to bat on.
Khaleel was the first to draw blood, getting Prithvi Shaw to edge one to Bairstow off an angling delivery that did him in for space.
His opening partner Shikhar Dhawan soon followed suit, top-edging a delivery from Khaleel that Bhuvneshwar eventually managed to hang on to despite having to juggle it once.
Colin Munro and Iyer then put together a 49-run stand that helped the Capitals recover from losing both their openers. Munro in particular was playing a few good shots but ended up getting caught behind off Abhishek Sharma.
Undeterred, Iyer put together another solid partnership, this time with Pant. The two made 56 runs between them before Iyer departed after getting caught behind off Bhuvneshwar.
Pant soon followed suit, going for one of his trademark big shots off Khaleel's bowling but only managing to find Deepak Hooda at long-on.
Morris was cleaned up by Rashid Khan before Axar Patel and Paul scored a few valuable runs down the order to give the Capitals something to bowl at.
Paul was the last person dismissed in the first innings as he was trapped plumb by Bhuvneshwar to give the Indian seamer his second wicket of the night.