Hyd jump to third spot

Sunrisers Hyderabad is on a song. Their ruthless professionalism was learnt the hard way by a wayward Delhi Daredevils in their IPL VI showdown at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Saturday. In a new twist to the script, they are now third in the table with 14 points from 11 outings having notched up a six-wicket win against Daredevils, thanks to the all-round efforts of Darren Sammy.

However, the match, which could have ended in blazing glory for the host, looked a formidable job the manner its frontline batsmen fell. Chasing a meagre 81-run target, they lost three quick wickets despite a good start. Jeevan Mendis justified his recall by scalping Parthiv Patel (14) in the seventh over to bring alive the match and also the spectators. In no time the host was reeling at 43/3 in 6.5 overs. Local boy Ashish Reddy fell after scoring a shaky five. The batting trump card Shikhar Dhawan was at his aggressive best while scoring 22 from 16 balls. Earlier, Daredevils earned the dubious distinction of setting the lowest target in this edition of the Championship after being dismissed for 80 in 19.1overs. It was a bad decision to bat first for Mahela Jayawardene after calling it right. Thanks to Amit Mishra, Karan Sharma and Dale Steyn, Hyderabad was on top right from the first ball to eventually have the visitors shot out for 80 the lowest in this edition of the championship. Mishra flummoxed David Warner, who was stumped by an alert Kumar Sangakkara. Daredevils earlier made two changes by bringing in Jeevan Mendis and Johan Botha for Ben Rohrer and Morne Morkel. Hyderabad retained its earlier team. Brief scores: Delhi Daredevils 80 (Darren Sammy 2/10, Thisara Perera 2/11, Dale Steyn 2/21) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 81 for four (Shikar Dhawan 22, Darren Sammy 18no, Johan Botha 2/11)