The last time Delhi Capitals (Delhi Daredevils) were in the playoffs was in the year 2012. Last time Sunrisers Hyderabad was in the playoffs was last year where they came out as the runner up.
SRH has qualified for the playoffs for the fourth time in a row. Seeing them in the playoffs is nothing new for someone who has followed IPL since their induction in 2013. But this time they qualified with just 12 points and a higher net run rate among other teams.
In the latter part of the league they didn’t play well, they were heavily dependent on two openers and their bowling didn’t have the spark for which they are known. Guptill and Saha have tried to give them the start which Warner and Bairstow gave initially but the current openers are not that much effective. One of the reasons for this can be the lack of game practice that these two have. Saha has played 4 matches while Guptill has played only 2.
The good thing for SRH is their captain, Kane Williamson is back in form. Also, the recent form of Manish Pandey is also a positive sign for them. Today, SRH’s bowlers will need to show their A game.
Delhi Capitals is the most underrated side of this season. They changed their name and logo before the start of the season. This brought a change in their fortune. This team has played sensibly right throughout the tournament. A huge credit of this should go to their captain, Shreyas Iyer.
Apart from 99 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders, Prithvi Shaw has not played any other memorable innings this year. He was in a great touch last year but this year has totally been different for the young man.
Injury to Kagiso Rabada is a huge issue for DC. Now, the bowlers will need to replicate the effect that he used to have in the death overs which is a huge task.
The match will be played at Visakhapatnam which was once home ground for Sunrisers Hyderabad. They will be aware of the pitch more than their counterpart. The pitch here has some support for the fast bowlers.
Delhi Capitals have fewer questions to answer than Sunrisers Hyderabad and hence when the night gets over we can see blue everywhere.
