Delhi Daredevils face the daunting Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Tuesday, in Match 40 of the IPL. The Delhi team have had a forgettable season, with their poor batting form coming to head in the last game where they were bowled out for 67, their lowest total ever in the IPL, by the Kings XI Punjab. With DD’s England import Sam Billings set to leave to honor international commitments and skipper Zaheer Khan’s fitness status still unclear, the situation will only get worse. The expectation that a number of all-rounders would step up in the absence of top-order batsmen has fallen flat, with the result that Delhi has lost five matches in a row and are tottering at the bottom of the points table with six points off eight matches.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, look set to mount another challenge for the IPL trophy. Their skipper David Warner is in golden form, and is coming off a century in the last game that helped his side post a first-innings total of 209 against the KKR, which they were able to defend by a whopping 48 runs. With the century, Warner has amassed 459 runs already in the season, and holds the Orange Cap. Not only Warner but New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has also been in great touch. He has been batting exceptionally well since joining the side. Yuvraj Singh is due for a big score and if he also gets his touch back, it will make Hyderabad more dangerous.
Also dangerous is the Hyderabad bowling, with Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s irritating accuracy helping him scalp 20 wickets in their SRH’s 10 games, the most of any bowler in the IPL this season, making the current Purple Cap holder. Ashish Nehra is always an asset despite being an ageing star while Afghan teen Rashid Khan has been exceptional in the death overs. All these factors make Hyderabad a side that makes them very competitive even for the most consistent sides – KKR and Mumbai Indians, as was evident in their comprehensive defeat of then-table toppers KKR.
Delhi have only their bowling going for them, and on their day, the Delhi bowlers can demolish any side. Chris Morris is going to DD’s best man with the ball. The South African pacer has taken 12 wickets so far which includes a four-wicket haul he took in the reverse fixture.
When
2000 IST, 2 May, 2017.
Where
Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi
Head to Head record: SRH 6 DD 3
Squads
Delhi Daredevils: Zaheer Khan (captain), Angelo Mathews, Corey Anderson, Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins, Ankit Bawne, Aditya Tare, Murugan Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Shashank Singh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Chris Morris, Carlos Brathwaite, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Chama Milind, Khaleel Ahmed, Pratyush Singh, Marlon Samuels.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Moises Henriques, Naman Ojha (wicketkeeper), Ricky Bhui, Kane Williamson, Siddarth Kaul, Bipul Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Ben Cutting, Abhimanyu Mithun, Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Sran, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Nabi, Eklavya Dwivedi, Rashid Khan, Pravin Tambe, Ben Laughlin, Tanmay Agarwal, Mohammed Siraj.
Predictions :
- Sanju Samson is expected to deliver a good knock at the top of the order for the Delhi Daredevils, if they are to post a competitive total. It will be important for the SRH bowlers, especially Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to get him out cheap.
- Sunrisers Hydrabad will bank on their almost scary batting lineup, with the likes of Warner, Williamson, Yuvraj, Dhawan and Moises Henriques expected to fire in unison tomorrow, putting the match well out of the out-of-form DD batsmen’s reach.
- The SRH side is heavily expected to win, but with Delhi starting a home stretch (four of five of their last matches are at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium), they will be hoping to hit a home stretch that will carry them to the playoffs, starting tomorrow.
