Before the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals started, batsmen all over the Indian Premier League must have had their heads in the clouds. The reason for that was simple. We had seen 29 sixes in the Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab match followed by 26 more in the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians match. Batsmen must have been feeling they could hit anything and everything out of the ground.
But then the cricket moved to Abu Dhabi and the conditions gave the bowlers some breathing space. The batsmen could still play their shots but on a two-paced wicket, they had to abandon the recklessness; they had to pick and choose which balls they would attack.
Batting first, SRH put on 162/4 thanks to some very smart cricket by David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson. They kept wickets in hand and then accelerated ever so slowly. This wasn’t…