If Gujarat Lions vs Royal Challengers Bangalore was the clash of the big-hitters, Wednesday’s clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils in Hyderabad is one of the bowlers. There’s Zaheer Khan, Pat Cummins, Amit Mishra at one end against Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Rashid Khan and Mustafizur Rahman (if he plays). And of course, knowing Zaheer Khan’s delight at bowling at a left-hander, his showdown with opposition captain David Warner will be a delight to watch.

Time: 8 pm

Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad

TV: Sony Max, Sony Six, Sony ESPN and their HD channels

Results in 2016:

Played: 2

Hyderabad won: 0

Delhi won: 2

Sunrisers Hyderabad

  • Hyderabad are currently the holders of both the Orange and the Purple Caps: David Warner (235 runs) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (15 wickets).
  • However, the dependence on Warner will worry Hyderabad. No other batsman from their team is in the top 15 of the top run-getters this season. Shikhar Dhawan, with 135 runs so far, only makes an appearance at the 16th spot.
  • With 39 wickets in five matches, Hyderabad are the best bowling unit, in terms of wickets taken, in this tournament. However, they will be meeting the second-placed team, Delhi Daredevils who have 33 wickets in four matches.

“It’s great to have Bhuvi in the shed at the back end.”

David Warner, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain

Squad: David Warner (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Ricky Bhui, Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Chris Jordan, Abhimanyu Mithun, Barinder Singh Sran, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Naman Ojha (wicketkeeper), Eklavya Dwivedi (wicketkeeper), Tanmay Agarwal, Mustafizur Rahman, Siddarth Kaul, Ben Laughlin, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammed Siraj, Rashid Khan, Pravin Tambe, Ben Cutting, Bipul Sharma, Vijay Shankar Deepak Hooda.

Delhi Daredevils

  • Captain Zaheer Khan has bucked the trend so far and preferred to defend a total, rather than chasing it down. It’s worked for him in two matches so far, but didn’t in their last match against Kolkata. Will he stick to the same template?
  • The question marks keep growing about Karun Nair. The 25-year-old scratched around for 21 off 27 balls sapping Delhi of their momentum when they batted. He hasn’t crossed 30 in 14 innings since he made his triple century.
  • Shahbaz Nadeem impressed in his first two matches for Delhi but was left out for Mohamed Shami against Kolkata. That did not work out as Shami was carted for 28 runs in his four overs and Nadeem is likely to come back into the team for the Hyderabad match. 

“I’m really enjoying playing with him. It’s not often you get a bowler as a captain and especially such an experienced one.”

Pat Cummins on Zaheer Khan, his Delhi Daredevils captain

Squad: Zaheer Khan (captain), Angelo Mathews, Corey Anderson, Kagiso Rabada, Pat Cummins, Ankit Bawne, Aditya Tare, Murugan Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Shashank Singh, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Shreyas Iyer, Sam Billings, Sanju Samson, Chris Morris, Carlos Brathwaite, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Chama Milind, Khaleel Ahmed, Pratyush Singh.