Two very different results in the last outing for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals will have the former buoyed with confidence and the latter still baffled by their inability to close out games.

It was the David Warner-Jonny Bairstow show at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Sunday as SRH thumped RCB by 118 runs. Meanwhile, a phenomenal brain fade from Delhi saw them trumped at the death by Kings XI Punjab on Monday.

The last time Delhi played at Feroz Shah Kotla, Chennai Super Kings chased down 148 with relative ease on a track that seemed sluggish and more of the same will be expected with spinners on both sides expected to play a key role.

With the steady decline of Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the death, SRH have struggled to contain oppositions but last season Siddharth Kaul managed to pull things back for the ‘Orange Army’. In 2019, Sunrisers have the worst strike-rate in the league at the death with figures of 21.7 and an economy 11.9 RPO.

While it’s still early days, signs are ominous for SRH as Bhuvneshwar and Kaul have conceded at an economy of 18 and 12 respectively between overs 16 and 20, while remaining wicket-less. The Hyderabad skipper’s economy is the worst in the IPL this season.

But Sunrisers more than make up for the bowling frailties in the batting department, especially with Warner and Bairstow going all guns blazing. The duo are yet to be dismissed in the Powerplay this year and have gone at over nine runs an over (9.74), the best in the league so far.

It will be a keen tussle between SRH’s batting firepower and Capitals’ bowling unit upfront. Delhi have managed to grab seven wickets in the Powerplays this season, the highest for any team, though frontline seamer Kagiso Rabada is yet to have a dismissal against his name when bowling in the first six overs.

Nepal’s leg-spin superstar Sandeep Lamichhane has had reasonable success in the Powerplay and what will encourage the youngster is the fact that the Kotla square will offer him assistance. Bowling him in the Powerplay could be effective considering Bairstow has been dismissed by leg-spinners in all three of his innings this IPL.

Warner on the other hand is effective against leg-spinner, with a strike-rate of 153.98 and is dismissed only once in 46 balls.

Delhi have an abundance of young talent but have lacked composure at vital moments with inexperience costing them dear, especially at the death. On more than one occasion, Delhi have ended up on the wrong side of the result despite being in control of the game for a large part. Scoring at 8.92 RPO, Delhi have lost 17 wickets in four games between overs 16 and 20.

Shikhar Dhawan has been solid at the top but Prithvi Shaw has blown hot and cold. Skipper Shreyas Iyer has got off to some good starts but failed to capitalize, while Colin Ingram and Rishabh Pant have got themselves amongst the runs frequently.

Likely XIs

Delhi will most probably bring in Axar Patel for Hanuma Vihari considering the conditions at the Kotla and the added incentive of Axar giving them an all-round option.

DC: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Colin Ingram, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Harshal Patel, Sandeep Lamichhane.

Shahbaz Nadeem’s familiarity with the track, through his time playing for Delhi Daredevils, could be a factor when it comes to team selection.

SRH: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma/Shahbaz Nadeem, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul.

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