Twice in succession, Delhi Capitals showed it doesn’t quite know how to win from a winning position. As a result, its self-belief has taken an obvious beating. On Thursday, an upbeat Sunrisers Hyderabad could well compound the worries of an already-shaken host.
Against Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi was lucky to win after riding on Kagiso Rabada’s superb Super Over. But the other night against Kings XI Punjab, the side was not so fortunate. Much depends on how Delhi clears this mess in its mind and gets down to playing to its potential. Should Delhi get its act right on Thursday, the path to playoffs could get easier.
Hyderabad looks an assured side under Kane Williamson. After losing the opener to Kolkata Knight Riders, the side has hit the right note by scoring over the two ‘Royal’ teams.
Openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have made a statement with century stands in all three outings so far. Their centuries in the last match, where the bowlers joined the party, set up a comprehensive victory over Bangalore. In three matches so far, Hyderabad touched 180 every time and crossed 200 twice.
In short, the momentum is clearly with Hyderabad. In contrast, in the last two games, Delhi has looked vulnerable despite collecting two points.
Consider this: After reducing Kolkata to 61 for five and later needing just six runs off the last over, Delhi made a heavy weather of the target. Against Punjab, Delhi lost seven wickets for eight runs to lose by 14 runs.
Coach Ricky Ponting and advisor Sourav Ganguly are sure to talk tough with the team. After all, Delhi successive capitulation makes the opposition hopeful of this team shooting itself in the foot.
Delhi has the batting to deal with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul, Mohammad Nabi and Vijay Shankar. Given the presence of large number of Indian batsmen in the Delhi Capitals’ line-up, the Hyderabad spinners could find it tough.
Teams (from):
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.
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.
Match starts at 8pm (IST).
