Dhawan to the party again as Sunrisers cruise into main draw

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A couple of late wickets created a minor frisson but by then it had all been settled as Sunrisers Hyderabad made sure of qualifying for the Champions League T20 2013 with a unflustered seven-wicket verdict over the Faislabad Wolves in the evening game at the PCA Stadium here on Wednesday.
Hyderabad were set on their way by openers Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel who put on a 54-ball 68 before Dhawan and JP Duminy joined forces for a 44-run second wicket association.
With just 128 needed for the win, even the sudden departures of the skipper and new man Biplab Samantray — both falling to left-arm spinner Imran Khalid in the 15th over — only served to change the look of the scoreboard somewhat.
Nothing the Wolves did on the day suggested that they would extend their stay at this tournament, both with bat and ball. After posting 127/5, their attack was powerless against Dhawan (59, 50b, 6x4, 1x6) and Patel.
The Hyderabad skipper eased to his second 50 in as many games before he was bowled by Khalid after Patel (23, 21b, 3x4) had fallen to paceman Ehsan Adil. Duminy (20 not out) and Darren Sammy (14 not out) completed the formalities by the 18th over.
Earlier, the Wolves flattered to deceive yet again in their battle for survival.
It was again left to Mishab-ul Haq to show his men how the job is done. The right-hander had opener Ammar Mahmood to thank for a steady start with Ali Waqas (16) but other than that, there was very little forthcoming from the rest of the batting line-up against the sharp Sunrisers attack.
Mahmood and Waqas in fact raised hopes of a competitive total with their 48-run association first up. Dale Steyn looked in better mood than on Tuesday when he had sprayed the ball around a bit, though at the other end, Ishant Sharma came in for some tap from Mahmood.
Yet once Waqas was gone, caught in the deep off leg-spinner Amit Mishra, it was a repeat of the Wolves first game as the rest of the batting apart from their captain fell apart.
Scorecard
Faisalabad Wolves: A. Mahmood c Mishra b Sammy 31, A. Waqas c Ashish b Mishra 16, A. Ali lbw b Karan 0, Misbah-ul Haq (not out) 56, I. Khalid c Perera b Ishant 2, K. Shehzad b Perera 4, M. Salman (not out) 3. Extras (b 4, lb 6, w 4, nb 1) 15, Total (for 5 wkts) 127.
FoW: 1-48, 2-50, 3-69, 4-92, 5-101.
Bowling: Steyn 4-0-20-0, Ishant 4-0-26-1 (1nb, 1w), Perera 4-0-33-1 (1w), Mishra 4-1-13-1 (1w), Karan 2-0-11-1 (1w), Sammy 2-0-14-1.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: P. Patel c Khurram Shehzad b Ehsan Adil 23, S. Dhawan b Imran Khalid 59, J.P. Duminy 20 (not out), B. Samantray lbw b Imran Khalid 0, D. Sammy 14 (not out). Extras: (lb6, w8, nb1) 15, Total (for 3 wkts; in 17.3 overs) 131.
FoW: 1-68, 2-112, 3-112.
Bowling: Samiullah Khan 4-0-36-0, Ali 3.3-0-27-0(nb1, w1), Ajmal 4-0-25-0 (w2), Adil 3-0-14-1, Shehzad 1-0-9-0 (w1), Khalid 2-0-14-2