Delhi Capitals look to bounce back after eight-for-seven crash
Sunrisers Hyderabad might have the same number of points as their opponents, but have looked a far better team
The Preview by Vishal Dikshit
03-Apr-2019
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Even though Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad have the same number of points - four - to their names right now, they have had considerably different journeys to earn them. Apart from the fact that Sunrisers have played one match fewer, Delhi have somehow managed to lose their nerves in the last two matches, not an ailment Sunrisers have shown symptoms of.
Delhi were cruising in their chases against both Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab before slipping. Kagiso Rabada saved them in the Super Over against Knight Riders, but against Kings XI, there was no coming back as they lost seven wickets for just eight runs.
They can't afford to make such mistakes again, especially against a team that's been among the best in the last few seasons.
Sunrisers' bowlers must be desperate to have a go and get their act back together, especially in the death overs, seeing the way Delhi have batted at the end recently. Their top-order batsmen, of course, are likely to tear into any bowling attack that errs even marginally.
Sunrisers' death bowling wasn't tested against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday, and it's one area, along with their middle order, that Delhi would want to target. Yusuf Pathan has faced 22 balls this IPL and Manish Pandey nine. That means only one thing for Delhi: get quick wickets.
Having already lost two of their four matches, this is a good chance for Delhi to win at home before they travel for three away matches within the next ten days. The Delhi track has see-sawed so far, giving first-innings scores of 147 and 185, and might continue to be low and slow on Thursday.
In the news
David Warner had taken a blow on his hand while taking a sharp catch at extra cover to dismiss Virat Kohli on Sunday. But he is now "100%" for Thursday, and while Jonny Bairstow showed signs of discomfort during his century, perhaps because of cramps in the Hyderabad heat, he is also fit.
Previous meeting
When Sunrisers met Delhi Daredevils last in May 2018, they had chased down 188 with ease, ending a Rishabh Pant century in vain. Delhi man Shikhar Dhawan was with Sunrisers then and had scored an unbeaten 92 off 50 balls.
Likely XIs
Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Colin Ingram, 6 Chris Morris, 7 Hanuma Vihari, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10, Avesh Khan, 11 Sandeep Lamichhane
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 2 David Warner, 3 Vijay Shankar, 4 Yusuf Pathan, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar (capt), 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Siddarth Kaul
Strategy punt
Stats that matter
Vishal Dikshit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo