Forty six matches have been in the Indian Premier League and we still have all the four play-offs still up for the grab. The Indian Premier League 2020 has already shown us some of the best thrillers in the history of the tournament. The Tuesday clash is scheduled to take place between the 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad and the in-form Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Stadium. The match will mark the 47th game of this season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad were defeated by the Kings Xl Punjab in a thriller of an encounter in which the Punjab side successfully managed to defend a low score of 126. While, the Delhi Capitals were left clueless after the onslaught by the KKR batsmen as they were thrashed by the Kolkata Knight Riders by 59 runs. With the most crucial stage of the league, both the teams will be hoping they can turn the tables in their favor.
The previous encounter between the two sides went in favor of the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Delhi Capitals after winning the toss chose to chase and SRH with the help of half- century by the wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow and valuable forties by Australian opener David Warner and Kiwis Captain Kane Williamson reached a respectable total of 162. The Delhi Capitals lost their opener Prithvi Shaw early in the innings and with none of the batsmen able to convert their starts, they ended up on the losing side by a margin of 15 runs.
The Delhi Capitals team which is led by the young Shreyas Iyer is well placed at the 2nd position and are just one win away from confirming their play-off berth. While, the Sunrisers Hyderabad find themselves in a bothersome 7th place, which means a defeat here would put an end to their play-offs chances.
Can the 2016 champions stay alive in the tournament? Or will the upbeat Delhi Capitals win the match and confirm their play- off spot?
Head to Head
Matches Played- 16, SRH-10, DC- 6, N/R- 0
Team News
The SRH side would be a bit disappointed with their recent performance against the Kings Xl Punjab as the game looked well in favor of them in the first 15 overs. With not much in reserve to try and given that it's a must win game for the SRH. The management and captain will be happy to feature the settled line-up.
While the DC have done a wonderful job this season and the players can not be blamed for having an off-day against the Kolkata Knight Riders. They are likely to feature the same Xl that played against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Pitch and Conditions
The pitch in Dubai has been an ideal pitch for cricket as it looks well balanced for the batsmen and bowlers. Even though the pitch has slowed down drastically, We saw the CSK chase down the score of 145 with ease against the RCB side. Said that, any score of 165 plus still looks a winning total for the team batting first.
With the match schedule to take place in the evening the due may play a crucial part.
The conditions are once again in favor of the sport as clear skies are expected throughout the day. The temperature is expected to be hovering in the 28- 32 degree range. While, the humidity is expected to reach a maximum of 40- 42 percentile at peak.
Probable Playing Xl
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan
Delhi Capitals (DC): Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Tushar Deshpande, Anrich Nortje
Key Battles
Shikhar Dhawan (DC) vs Jason Holder (SRH)
The DC opener had a shaky start to his season but has made every bit of that count as he became the first player in the history of the tournament to score back to back centuries. The left- hander also is currently the second highest run- getter in this season with 471 runs and he will be looking to close the gap between him and the orange cap holder KL Rahul. Delhi Capitals would not want to take things deeper and would be looking to seal their berth by winning this encounter. Who better than Dhawan to do the job?
Sunrisers on the other side have found a gem of a performer in the West Indian all- rounder Jason Holder. The pacer has already picked up 5 wickets in only the 2 matches he has played so far this season and has also done an incredible job in restricting the batsmen. The SRH camp would definitely be regretting to not have included him in the line-up much before. But it's never too late and he can still take the SRH past the line.
Can Jason Holder be the difference for the Sunrisers? Or will Dhawan continue to close in on the orange cap holder.
David Warner (SRH) vs Kagiso Rabada (DC)
The best foreign batsman in the history of the tournament- David Warner is sure to have his say when it comes to the high pressure games and he is not someone who will be holding up. The last time the sides met the Australian scored 45 of 33 balls but did struggle to get going against the bowling of Kagiso Rabada. The Proteas pacer would be aware of this and surely will be looking to attack the opener from the word go.
David Warner has scored 370 runs from the 11 matches played so far in this season and is currently placed 8th in the list of the highest run- getters in this season. The SRH captain would be well aware that in order to get past the Delhi Capitals, he along with Jonny Bairstow need to play out of their skins.
Kagiso Rabada on the other hand is the purple cap holder with a jaw-dropping 23 wickets from the 11 matches played so far.
Prediction
The Delhi Capitals look much stronger on the sheet and they would be playing with less pressure as they are placed in comfortable 2nd position on the points table. While the SRH would be playing a do or die game here and the players are sure to be under immense pressure coming into this encounter.
The conditions will definitely be in favor of the Capitals as their batsmen seem to be in tremendous form added to their incredible bowling pair of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje that are assured to cause any opposition problems. Given the form of the Delhi side and conditions, they seem to hold the advantage.
The only way Sunrisers can get past the mighty Delhi Capitals would be if the opening pair of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow set the stadium ablaze.
Cricwizz predicts Sunrisers Hyderabad to win the match
