Sunrisers Hyderabad win as rain brings more gloom for Delhi Daredevils

NEW DELHI: There was rain, thunder, lightning, a small electrical fire and surprisingly, even some brief pyrotechnics from the out-of-form Kevin Pietersen's bat.
It was all to no avail, though, as Delhi Daredevils' fortunes continued to fizzle at the Ferozeshah Kotla on an incredibly frustrating Saturday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad eventually won by 8 wickets via the D/L method against a hapless and luckless Delhi, but not before four rain stoppages - not counting the delay at the break - and the indecisiveness of umpires and match officials had made a mockery of the proceedings.
Chasing Delhi's 143/7, Hyderabad's target was first revised to 117 from 15 overs, then 97 off 12, and then - with Hyderabad 17/1 in 2 overs - to 43 from five, or 26 from the remaining three!
The rain teased and tormented players, officials and spectators as the covers were sometimes brought on even with no rain, only to be removed moments later and then brought on again.
Eventually a result was arrived at, as David Warner and Naman Ojha carried the Sunrisers through to 44/2 off 4.2 overs, Ojha finishing things off with a six as to ensure the team survived the fall of Aaron Finch and Shikhar Dhawan's wickets.
Delhi were left languishing at the bottom of the table and their season is effectively over with four consecutive losses at home. Though they were luckless, the first rain break completely deprived their innings of momentum.
At one stage the hosts looked like turning their luck around and at 103/3 in 13.1 overs, things looked promising when the first rain stoppage occurred.
Delhi's platform was largely built on a brief blitzkrieg from man in charge Kevin Pietersen (35; 19b, 4x4, 2x6), who opened with De Kock.