Axar Patel, Delhi Capitals’ Tactical Blunders That Helped Abhishek Sharma And SRH Score 242 In IPL 2026 Game

Abhishek Sharma scythed through a hapless Delhi Capitals bowling attack with a scintillating unbeaten century as Sunrisers Hyderabad posted an imposing 242 for 2 on a placid track in an IPL match on Tuesday. Abhishek (135 not out off 68 balls) was at his imperious best as neither Nitish Rana‘s off-breaks (0/55 in 4 overs) bothered him nor did Lungi Ngidi‘s dipping slower ones (0/41 in 4 overs) have any effect on his strokeplay, as he smashed 10 sixes along with an equal number of boundaries.

Even with a relatively off-colour Travis Head (37 off 26 balls) for company, he added 97 runs for the opening stand. Then skipper Ishan Kishan (25 off 13 balls) joined the party, adding another 79 runs for the second wicket in just 5.5 overs to create a perfect launchpad for the final assault.

Towards the end, as Abhishek seemed a bit tired, Heinrich Klaasen chanced his arm to hit a quickfire 37 not out off 13 balls.

Delhi Capitals’ ploy of starting with an off-spinner – that too a mediocre part-timer like Nitish Rana (0/55 in 4 overs) – backfired badly, as he was given four overs in which he was hit for half a dozen sixes, all by left-handed batters.

DC Not at Their Tactical Best

The DC coaching staff, headlined by Director of Cricket Venugopal Rao and head coach Hemang Badani, have not exactly been at their tactical best throughout the tournament, and Tuesday was one such occasion. Rana bowled a tidy first over, but the second went for 20, and after the strategic time-out, he was again given two more overs, one of which went for 23.

Even skipper Axar Patel (1/23 in 2 overs) will have some answering to do as to why, as a frontline spinner, he did not complete his quota and why Kuldeep Yadav (0/30 in 2 overs) was not trusted after one bad over (22 runs), while someone like Rana was persisted with.

In all, the two-and-a-half spinners (the half being Rana) used by DC went for 108 runs in their combined eight overs.

The Powerplay yielded 67 runs, but DC completely lost the plot during the middle phase between overs 7 and 15, in which 116 runs were conceded – an unacceptable return.

The hallmark of Abhishek’s innings was how he adjusted the downswing of his bat depending on the bowler, especially Ngidi, whom he played late and in front of the wicket. It seemed Abhishek was in the mood to exhibit his range-hitting skills, with most of his sixes struck in front of the wicket.

It was a slightly slower century by his standards. Even then, Abhishek managed a strike rate north of 200, bringing up his hundred in 47 balls. But he did not stop there as Sunrisers Hyderabad reached a total that looks almost improbable to chase, given the batting depth that DC possess

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