Hyderabad jump to the fourth spot with their sixth win in 11 games, while seventh-placed Delhi suffered their eight loss in 12 matches to end their hopes of a final-four spot.
Raipur: Moises Henriques' gritty fifty and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's crafty bowling helped Sunrisers Hyderabad stay in the hunt for the playoffs as they beat Delhi Daredevils by 6 runs in a hard-fought IPL cricket match, here on Saturday.
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SRH jumped to the fourth spot with their sixth win in 11 games, while seventh-placed DD suffered their eight loss in 12 matches to end their hopes of a final-four spot. (Scorecard | Highlights)
Electing to bat at the� Shaheed Veer Narayan International Stadium - DD's second home, SRH rode on an unbeaten 74 from man-of-the-match Henriques to post 163 for four in 20 overs.
The David Warner-led side then defended its target after restricting DD to 157 for four as Kedar Jadhav (63 not out) and Saurabh Tiwary (26 not out) stood disappointed with a 91-run unbeaten stand.
Bhuvneshwar (1-20) struck early as the medium-pacer got Shreyas Iyer caught and bowled for a naught in the third over of the innings.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock (50) then stitched a 47-run partnership with skipper Jean-Paul Duminy (12) to give the side some stability.
But in came leg-spinner Karn Sharma (2-12), the sixth bowler in nine overs, and got dangerman De Kock stumped on a delivery that tossed and turned to draw the South African out of his crease.
Off-spinner Parvez Rasool (1-20) got Yuvraj Singh (2) caught at long on in the very next over and Karn was the catcher.
The Meerut-born Karn continued to make his presence felt as he cleaned up Duminy in his very next over as DD kept losing control.
Jadhav, his 34-ball knock laced with 8 fours and 2 sixes, and Tiwary again raised hopes of a successful chase with a good-looking fifth wicket stand but just ran out of steam in the end.
Needing 22 of the final two overs, Bhuvneshwar bowled a near-perfect penultimate over to give away just 6 runs. Ishant Sharma then did the job as he never allowed DD to get 16 runs off the final 6 deliveries even after the over started with a boundary.
Earlier in the SRH innings Henriques managed to stick around with a wobbly top-order to finally stitch a crucial 64-run unbeaten fifth wicket stand with Ravi Bopara (17 not out) and take the team to a respectable total.
Veteran DD pacer Zaheer Khan (1-33) drew first blood after scalping Shikhar Dhawan (13) in the fourth over.
The left-hander tried to flick an incoming delivery from the left-arm pacer but mistimed the shot to lob an easy catch to Albie Morkel at midwicket
Nathan Coulter-Nile (2-25) struck in the very next over to send David Warner (17) back in the dug out, just when the skipper was looking dangerous.
Henriques and Eoin Morgan (22) then stitched a quiet 33-run partnership before Jayant Yadav (1-19), who opened the attack for DD, broke through in the 11th over.
Morgan tried to loft out a pitched up Yadav delivery to long-off but Coulter-Nile took a good catch as he got his hands under the dipping white ball.
Coulter-Nile continued to make his presence on the field as he broke through another partnership after getting Karn Sharma (16) back in the pavilion. It was now the turn of Yadav to return the favour as he picked a neat catch after Sharma mistimed a short ball to the point region.
After that it an Henriques show, who helped the side get 21 runs of the penultimate over post hitting Albie (0-35) for two big sixes.
The final over, bowled by Zaheer, also saw a six from Henriques as SRH managed 64 runs from the final 5 overs. Duminy, Amit Mishra and Albie went wicketless.
Sunil Narine is not a Mystery Bowler: Gautam Gambhir
Sunil Narine returned impressive figures in a four-wicket haul when Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Kings XI Punjab.
Kolkata: Hitting out at Sunil Narine's critics, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir today said the West Indies off-spinner was a quality bowler who has handled himself very well under tremendous pressure.
Narine returned impressive figures in a four-wicket haul when KKR bowled.
"I've always said he's the leader of the attack. People can talk whatever they want to -- I read somewhere that his 'mystery was solved' and things like that. All that matters is that he's not a mystery bowler, for me he's a quality bowler. Mystery will eventually get solved but a quality bowler will always do well under any circumstances," Gambhir said� at the post-match news conference at the Eden Gardens.
Narine had to go several tests at the ICC-accredited Sri Ramachandra Arthroscopy and Sports Sciences Centre in Chennai for his suspect action.
After the match between Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 22, the on-field officials reported a number of Narine's deliveries as suspect as he underwent fresh tests immediately and was cleared to bowl all his deliveries expect the offbreak, which was deemed illegal.
On April 29, Narine underwent a re-test on his offbreak, which was banned by the BCCI, and was cleared on May 6 as he was immediately drafted in KKR's match against Delhi Daredevils and conceded 30 runs without any wicket.
Narine had a quiet season so far with two wickets from six matches but his best this season came today against KXIP in his seventh match.
Saluting Narine's fighting spirit, Gambhir said: "The kind of pressure he was in, the way he handled himself in the last one and half months is unbelievable."
"The way he came back in this tournament especially in today's game after whatever has happened shows the character and mental toughness of the person. Obviously it's a great feel to get back your leader of the attack. I felt that it's just the start of something special which he would do very soon."
Having climbed atop the table, KKR (15 points from 12 matches) might have put one step into the playoffs but Gambhir said they're focused won winning their remainder two matches in Mumbai.
"A champion side is one who does not think much about qualifying. They keep thinking about winning each and every game. We've got four days off now. We can go and relax and come May 14 at 8pm, we would be ready to take on Mumbai in Mumbai."
Gambhir however indicated that the two-time defending champions were eyeing a top-two finish for an easy passage to the final.
"We're still trying to win as many games as we can and finish top two. It's all that matters. The business end of the tournament has just started. We just want to keep playing good cricket."
Fielding was atrocious as KKR dropped as many as five catches but the captain backed his boys and blamed it on the high heat and humidity during the afternoon.
"It does not matter. It was one of those days when things did not go our way on the field. We've been working hard on our fielding. It's not that the guys are not putting effort on the field. They're trying their level best.
"This is such a format and things like this do happen. It was very hot out there in the afternoon. I'm not making any excuses. I expect them to give 100 per cents and they're doing that. As human beings the mistakes bound to happen. A good side will always keep improving," he said.
At 83/4 after 11 overs, KKR's chase of 184 had been derailed but Gambhir said their batters did not give up and the wicket was sporting.
"With the firepower we have in our batting, we always felt if we played till the end we would chase the total."
He further said people should stop calling the Eden Gardens a slow turner.
"We always felt it's going to be a good wicket to bat second. It was a flat-flat wicket. People should now stop talking about the Eden track being slower and turner. It was a very good wicket to bat on. It gets better under lights."
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