On Tuesday, the in-form Delhi Capitals would like to continue their winning streak as they take one Sunrisers Hyderabad, yet to win a match in this year’s IPL.
Delhi Capitals head in to the game after two morale-boosting victories. The Shreyas Iyer-led team edged past Kings XI Punjab in a thrilling Super Over before thrashing Chennai Super Kings comprehensively to take the top position in the points table.
On the other hand, Sunrisers have so far failed to open their winning account yet, having lost both their games.
Skipper David Warner and his men will be desperate to turn things around on Tuesday against Delhi Capitals. For Delhi, the South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje have looked sharp with the new ball while spinners Axar Patel and Amit Mishra have performed well in the absence of Ravichandran Ashwin, who suffered an injury in the team’s first outing and is likely to miss the match against Sunrisers.
“It is not a major injury, he bowled in the nets yesterday, he will comeback very soon. He is being monitored by physio, today again he will bowl at the nets. Maximum, he might miss one more match,” Amit Mishra said in a pre-match presser.
In batting, the onus will be on seniors such as Shikhar Dhawan to lay the foundation, and he will have the talented Prithvi Shaw at the top of the order for company. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer have also looked in good nick, after rescuing the team from a spot of bother in the first game, the two pitched in with valuable runs against CSK. Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has proved he is handy with the willow while Shimron Hetmyer can also compliment the strong batting line up.
For Sunrisers to do well, they would need to look beyond Warner and Bairstow. The side must click as a batting unit to post its first win of the season on Tuesday.
Especially their middle order needs to fire. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, the middle order failed to fire and the team settled for a below-par total which the bowling unit couldn’t defend. Wriddhiman Saha was particularly slow and would be expected to play an innings more suitable to the format.
Sunrisers might consider bringing in Kane Williamson, who has recovered from his injury, to provide stability to the lineup. Sunrisers spinners led by Rashid Khan continue to impress but the side is lacking an out and out pace bowler who cant hit the deck and push the batsman back off a good length. Australian fast bowler Billy Stanlake is an option but with only four overseas slots available, his inclusion looks unlikely.