Lower-order batting woes will be on Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer’s mind when they host an in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
The Capitals looked all set to register their third victory of the tournament on Monday but a sensational collapse, which saw them lose seven wickets for just eight runs, led to Kings XI Punjab stealing two points.
Delhi were 144/3 in the 17th over, chasing 167 before being bowled out for 152 in 19.2 overs.
“I am really speechless. Really disappointing. It is a crucial match and losing such matches is not going to benefit us. Mentally we need to train ourselves - we are getting good starts, need to finish better,” Iyer had said after the loss against KXIP.
DC, known as Delhi Daredevils till the last season, almost made a meal out of their clash with Kolkata Knight Riders, too. They needed six runs off the last over but couldn’t get the job done. It was a brilliant Super Over by Kagiso Rabada that came to their rescue that day.
A new-look Delhi made a rampaging start to the season with a superb win over three-time champions Mumbai Indians but since then they have struggled with their lower-order. They are currently fifth in the eight team standings with two wins and as many loses.
Rishabh Pant, who played a superb knock of 78 to pile up a mammoth 213 against Mumbai in the first match, has been the highest run-scorer for Delhi while the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Iyer and Colin Ingram too have been among runs but finishing off games has been a problem for all of them.
The bowling department has been led by Rabada, while they also have Kiwi pacer Trent Boult and Ishant Sharma in their ranks. Young Nepalese leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane too has performed well so far for Delhi.
But the real contest on Thursday would be between Delhi pacers Rabada and Chris Morris against the marauding Sunrisers pair of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. The pair of Warner and Bairstow have been in scintillating form this year, sharing century-plus opening stands in all their three matches so far.
Warner, Bairstow threat
After a 118-run opening stand against KKR in a losing cause, Warner and Bairstow continued their dominance up the order with a 110-run and 185-run partnerships against Rajasthan and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively. The earliest that SRH have lost their first wicket this season is over number 9.4.
In fact, both Warner (100 not out) and Bairstow (114) blasted a century each during Sunrisers massive 118-run win over RCB in the last game. On road to redemption, Warner has looked ominous as he blasted 69 off 37 balls against Rajasthan, before a whirlwind 55-ball unbeaten 100 blew away RCB.
Besides, he started the season with a 85-run knock against KKR. After the six-wicket defeat to KKR in their opener, Sunrisers roared their way back into the tournament, largely riding on Warner and Bairstow’s exploits and come Thursday, they would be eyeing a hat-trick of wins.
Away form is also a worry for the Orange Army, as they have won only one of their last six matches outside Hyderabad.
Among Sunrisers’ bowlers, Afghanistan spin duo of Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan would look to do the maximum damage, while pacer Sandeep Sharma too has done well with four wickets. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s performance, especially at the death, has been a major concern for Sunrisers. The Indian pacer is yet to take a wicket after three matches, and has a worrying economy rate of 10.64.
It also remains to be seen if Kane Williamson gets back to lead the side after being rested against RCB.
Head to Head in IPL:
Overall: Matches – 12, Delhi Capitals – 4, Sunrisers Hyderabad – 8.
In Delhi: Matches – 4, Delhi Capitals – 1, Sunrisers Hyderabad – 3.
Squads
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Colin Munro, Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Hanuma Vihari, Colin Ingram, Manjot Kalra, Chris Morris, Sherfane Rutherford, Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Jalaj Saxena, Rahul Tewatia, Rishabh Pant, Ankush Bains, Sandeep Lamichhane, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Trent Boult, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Nathu Singh and Bandaru Ayyappa.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, Ricky Bhui, Shreevats Goswami, Wriddhiman Saha, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Billy Stanlake.
[Inputs from PTI and iplt20.com]
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