Delhi Capitals would look to seal their place in the playoffs when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in a crucial Indian Premier League match at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.
Two back-to-back defeats against Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab must be hurting but DC would want to shrug it off and add two points to take their tally to 16, which will elevate them to the top of the table.
On the other hand, Sunrisers’ hopes to reach the playoffs are hanging by a thread. David Warner and his men occupy the penultimate spot with eight points from 11 outings. To reach the qualifiers they must win their remaining three games and hope all other results go their way.
The Capitals possess an explosive batting department as well as a formidable bowling unit. They have not been dependent on any one person, as different players have raised their hands at different stages to deliver the goods for the team.
However, apart from Shikhar Dhawan, the Delhi batsmen have been very inconsistent in the last three games.
In the win against CSK, Dhawan, who scored a century, did the heavy lifting with the bat. The senior opener again notched up a hundred against KXIP but with no substantial contributions from the other batsmen, Delhi lost the game.
SRH's results in IPL 2020
| Match | Day/Date/Time | Venue | Result | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SRH vs RCB | 21 Sep, Mon (1930) | Dubai | SRH lost by 10 runs | 0 |
| KKR vs SRH | 26 Sep, Sat (1930) | Abu Dhabi | SRH lost by 7 wickets | 0 |
| DC vs SRH | 29 Sep, Tue (1930) | Abu Dhabi | SRH won by 15 runs | 2 |
| CSK vs SRH | 2 Oct, Fri (1930) | Dubai | SRH won by 7 runs | 4 |
| MI vs SRH | 4 Oct, Sun (1530) | Sharjah | SRH lost by 34 runs | 4 |
| SRH vs KXIP | 8 Oct, Thu (1930) | Dubai | SRH won by 69 runs | 6 |
| SRH vs RR | 11 Oct, Sun (1530) | Dubai | SRH lost by 5 wickets | 6 |
| SRH vs CSK | 13 Oct, Tue (1930) | Dubai | SRH lost by 20 runs | 6 |
| SRH vs KKR | 18 Oct, Sun (1530) | Abu Dhabi | SRH lost Super Over | 6 |
| RR vs SRH | 22 Oct, Thu (1930) | Dubai | SRH won by 8 wickets | 8 |
| KXIP vs SRH | 24 Oct, Sat (1930) | Dubai | SRH lost by 12 runs | 8 |
DC's results in IPL 2020
| Match | Day/Date/Time | Venue | Result | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC vs KXIP | 20 Sep, Sun (1930) | Dubai | DC won Super Over after match was tied | 2 |
| CSK vs DC | 25 Sep, Fri (1930) | Dubai | DC won by 44 runs | 4 |
| DC vs SRH | 29 Sep, Tue (1930) | Abu Dhabi | DC lost by 15 runs | 4 |
| DC vs KKR | 3 Oct, Sat (1930) | Sharjah | DC won by 18 runs | 6 |
| RCB vs DC | 5 Oct, Mon (1930) | Dubai | DC won by 59 runs | 8 |
| RR vs DC | 9 Oct, Fri (1930) | Sharjah | DC won by 46 runs | 10 |
| MI vs DC | 11 Oct, Sun (1930) | Abu Dhabi | DC lost by 5 wickets | 10 |
| DC vs RR | 14 Oct, Wed (1930) | Dubai | DC won by 13 runs | 12 |
| DC vs CSK | 17 Oct, Sat (1930) | Sharjah | DC won by 5 wickets | 14 |
| KXIP vs DC | 20 Oct, Tue (1930) | Dubai | DC lost by 5 wickets | 14 |
| KKR vs DC | 24 Oct, Sat (1530) | Abu Dhabi | DC lost by 59 runs | 14 |
Against KKR, the Delhi batsmen crumbled under pressure, managing to put up only 139 runs in 20 overs while chasing 194.
Opener Prithvi Shaw, who has been going through a lean patch, was replaced by Ajinkya Rahane but to no avail as the senior Indian player perished without opening his account.
Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer have also struggled since their return to the playing XI.
The South African pace duo of Kagiso Rabada (23 wickets) and Anrich Nortje (14) has been exceptional. Tushar Deshpande and Ravichandran Ashwin’s performance has been erratic in recent matches, while Axar Patel has done well to suffocate the opposition teams.
Sunrisers head into the clash after a demoralising loss. Chasing a modest 127 against KXIP, the complexion of the match changed following the dismissal of openers Warner and Jonny Bairstow in quick succession.
The 2016 champions lost five wickets in the final two overs to suffer a bitter defeat. The team relies heavily on its batting unit, mainly on Bairstow, Warner and Manish Pandey. Vijay Shankar did well in the win against Rajasthan Royals but couldn’t replicate his performance against KXIP.
The bowling unit, strengthened by the inclusion of Jason Holder, was impressive in the previous game and skipper Warner will desperately hope they put up a similar display against Delhi.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will also take confidence from the fact that they defeated Delhi Capitals earlier in the tournament.
Head-to-head
| Mat | SRH wins | DC wins | SRH win% | DC win% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SRH vs DC | 16 | 10 | 6 | 62.50 | 37.50 |
SRH squad
| Batsmen | Bowlers | All-rounders | Wicketkeepers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kane Williamson | Rashid Khan | Vijay Shankar | Jonny Bairstow |
| David Warner | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | Mohammad Nabi | Wriddhiman Saha |
| Manish Pandey | Khaleel Ahmed | Abhishek Sharma | Shreevats Goswami |
| Priyam Garg | Sandeep Sharma | Abdul Samad | |
| Virat Singh | Siddarth Kaul | Fabian Allen | |
| Billy Stanlake | Sandeep Bavanaka | ||
| T Natarajan | Sanjay Yadav | ||
| Shahbaz Nadeem | |||
| Basil Thampi |
DC squad
| Batsmen | Bowlers | All-rounders | Wicketkeepers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shreyas Iyer | Ishant Sharma | Axar Patel | Rishabh Pant |
| Prithvi Shaw | Amit Mishra | Harshal Patel | Alex Carey |
| Shikhar Dhawan | Avesh Khan | R Ashwin | |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Sandeep Lamichhane | Lalit Yadav | |
| Shimron Hetmyer | Kagiso Rabada | Marcus Stoinis | |
| Keemo Paul | Daniels Sams | ||
| Mohit Sharma | |||
| Tushar Deshpande | |||
| Anrich Nortje |
Match starts 7.30 pm IST and will be broadcast live on Star Sports network / Disney+ Hotstar
(With PTI inputs)