Last Updated on 6 years by Charbel Coorey
Last vs. first. But you wouldn’t believe it, looking at how close this game could be. That’s been the exciting aspect of IPL 2018 – the table doesn’t always determine what the result will be.
It’s now do or die for Delhi Daredevils, who must win well to improve their net run rate, and to sit two points behind fourth placed MI. They have to believe they can win tonight, after pushing SRH to an extent in their last meeting five days ago, where Prithvi Shaw showed just how good he is against the best attack in the tournament. DD need some bigger contributions from key players, and if they can just add an extra bit of polish to the performance we saw in Hyderabad, they can win this clash.
Sunrisers Hyderabad continue to amaze, led by Kane Williamson’s excellent captaincy. RCB were the latest victims of SRH’s incredible ability to defend low totals, and SRH would be confident of targeting a DD side that has underperformed. A win for SRH would seal their passage to the playoffs, and given how they have played with the injury and suspension distractions they have faced, they most certainly deserve it.
Key to a Delhi Daredevils win
DD were sitting pretty at 95/1 off 10 overs five nights ago, and lost their way to score just 68/4 in the next ten.
The likes of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer have been damaging at times, and if the top four of those two, Prithvi Shaw and Glenn Maxwell/Jason Roy/Colin Munro can fire, you can back DD to set a big score, as well as chase a score that SRH set – an SRH side that has yet to score 180+ in the tournament.
 |
| Shaw is technically correct, but too much pressure shouldn’t be added onto his young shoulders |
Key to a Sunrisers Hyderabad win
Those last 10 overs where they conceded 68/4 was the catalyst for victory against DD. Then, against RCB, Kane Williamson and his men masterminded another magnificent defence of a small total.
DD’s best chance is to overcome the strong SRH attack. Incredibly, the most wickets taken by an SRH bowler is 13 by both Siddarth Kaul and Rashid Khan, who sit in equal 6th place on the wicket taking charts. This highlights the distribution of wickets among SRH bowlers, and that there aren’t many weak links in their attack. If they click as a unit again, it will set up their victory.
 |
| SRH continue to impress |
Possible teams
DD showed plenty of encouraging signs in Hyderabad five days ago, so it will be interesting to see if they go with the same line up. However, a concern for them will be the form of Glenn Maxwell (133 from nine innings), Colin Munro (63 from five innings) and Jason Roy (97 from three innings that includes a 91*). It will be interesting to see which way they will go. I think it could be Colin Munro, to try and handle the SRH spinners who will mostly turn the ball into him.
Delhi Daredevils XI: 1. Prithvi Shaw, 2. Colin Munro, 3. Rishabh Pant (wk), 4. Shreyas Iyer, 5. Naman Ojha, 6. Daniel Christian, 7. Vijay Shankar, 8. Liam Plunkett, 9. Amit Mishra, 10. Avesh Khan, 11. Trent Boult
SRH look more settled – expect them to stick with the same XI that beat RCB.
Sunrisers Hyderabad XI: 1. Shikhar Dhawan, 2. Alex Hales, 3. Kane Williamson (c), 4. Manish Pandey, 5. Shakib Al Hasan, 6. Yusuf Pathan, 7. Rashid Khan, 8. Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10. Siddarth Kaul, 11. Sandeep Sharma
Stats and Facts:
- Head-to-Head: Matches: 11, DD 4, SRH 7
- Amit Mishra did very well vs SRH in the last game, which is no surprise. Shakib Al Hasan (54.5), Alex Hales (69.2), Yusuf Pathan (83.3), Manish Pandey (105.4) and Shikhar Dhawan (113.6) have struggled against legspin in IPL 2018.
- Siddarth Kaul in death overs: econ. rate of 6.47
- If Rishabh Pant scores at least 43, he will pass 1,000 IPL runs and will be the youngest ever to do so (20).
- Against RCB, all five SRH bowlers took at least one wicket.
Prediction
I never thought a game featuring last and first would be tough to predict! That’s the case this time.
I have a strong feeling DD will win to keep their season alive, with good contributions from the top four! Should be a good clash.
