The match No. 40 in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 will see two-time semi-finalists Delhi Daredevils (DD) take on the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Tuesday, at the former’s home ground Feroz Shah Kotla. Sunrisers Hyderabad, in this season, have been the team to beat, while Daredevils have been blowing cold too many times. In their previous encounter in Match No.21, from a winning position, Delhi Daredevils gave the match away, letting Sunrisers Hyderabad win by 15 runs. Delhi Daredevils (DD) will also look to forget their imploding loss to King XI Punjab (KXIP) — a game in which they were shot out for a mere 67. On the other hand, while Sunrisers Hyderabad are coming off a thumping victory over an equally tough side in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 48 runs.
Speaking of the current form, Delhi Daredevils are coming off a miserable show against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), a contest in which DD were bundled out for a mere 67 runs. This is now Delhi Daredevils’ lowest ever IPL score. Captained for the first time by Karun Nair, DD showed no resilience whatsoever in the middle, with players like Sam Billings, Corey Anderson, Chris Morris and Shreyas Iyer failing miserably.
For Delhi Daredevils, the batting in particular has failed to click as a uni,t with only sparks of individual brilliance being exhibited. The Indian domestic talents, mainly Nair and Iyer, have struggled one too many times this season. Only Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samon have been the bright spots in an ocean of darkness this IPL 10.
The bowling on the other hand has been getting Delhi Daredevils out of tough situations. The trio of Morris, Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins has been hard to score runs off, while the evergreen Zaheer Khan has equipped himself quite smartly. However, with Zaheer carrying a slight niggle, the bowling looks thin in experience but not in talent.
The form of Amit Mishra in particular has been a big worrying factor for DD this season, while Shahbaz Nadeem has hardly impressed anyone. One could see Daredevils rope in new recruit Marlon Samuels in place of Corey Anderson, who has been a no-show so far to reinforce their batting.
Likely XI: Sanju Samson, Sam Billings, Karun Nair (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Chris Morris, Marlon Samuels, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem/ Zaheer Khan (c).
Sunrisers Hyderabad on the flipside, hardly show glimpse of any problem in their team combination. Starting with skipper David Warner, who alone romped past the Knight Riders of Kolkata slapping a 59-ball 126. Warner in cohort with Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan has marshalled the batting to the tee. Add in the eternally performing Moises Henriques their top four is intimidating to say the least.
The only minuscule problem has been their ever-thin middle order that sees the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Naman Ohja and Bipul Sharma fight for form.
Constant muddling also does not help much with Vijay Shankar and Deepak Hooda coming in and out the playing XI.
Since 2016, SRH’ strength has been their bowling attack and this season the trend continues. With the introduction of Rashid Khan, the bowling has exponentially gained a boost with hardly anyone picking the wily leg-spinner. The most promising of sight is the growth of Siddarth Kaul, who is making a niche for himself bowling in the death overs alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Bhuvneshwar has been ruling roost this IPL when it comes to bowling, having claimed 20 wickets so far. With Nehra being mostly utilised in important matches, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s local talent in Mohammad Siraj has exhibited good pace and acumen.
With such a splendid run in process, Sunrisers Hyderabad are hardly to make any change unless last moment injuries/niggles springs up.
Likely XI: David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Naman Ojha (wk), Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul, Mohammed Siraj
Prediction: Given the current look and how of both sides, Sunrisers Hyderabad would definitely be the more likely to win this affair, but one cannot rule out Delhi Daredevils. Delhi Daredevils will want to move upward after their horrific loss and not go the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) way.
Squads:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha (wk), Ben Cutting, Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ricky Bhui, Kane Williamson, Siddarth Kaul, Abhimanyu Mithun, Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Sran, Vijay Shankar, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Nabi, Eklavya Dwivedi, Pravin Tambe, Ben Laughlin, Tanmay Agarwal, Mohammed Siraj.
Delhi Daredevils: Zaheer Khan (c), Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mayank Agarwal, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Sam Billings (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Chris Morris, Carlos Brathwaite, Karun Nair, Chama Milind, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Pratyush Singh, Aditya Tare (wk), Ankit Bawne, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Shashank Singh, Corey Anderson, Rishabh Pant (wk).
Time: 16:00 IST | 10:30 GMT
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