What

Match 52 of VIVO IPL 2016 will see the Delhi Daredevils clash with table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The match gives SRH, who rejoin the pack after a 4-day break, the opportunity to seal a playoff spot. A win for DD will only make their journey to the Playoffs that much easier; a defeat might not mean the end of the road just yet, but their next fixture is the last league match of the season – and there’s a possibility that the Playoff teams might have been identified by then.

Delhi Daredevils were on a roll in the first three weeks of the season; they started with a poor showing in their opening fixture, but then bounced back to win five of their next six matches. However, they’ve won only one of their last five matches – thanks to some indifferent performances from the batsmen, and hence find themselves in this situation of having to win both their matches to progress to the Playoffs.

Sunrisers Hyderabad sit pretty at the top of the table with 8 wins from 12 outings. Before their four-day break, SRH chased down 180 against Kings XI Punjab, winning by 7 wickets. In the first few weeks of the season, the team’s middle-order looked brittle. However, since the arrival of Yuvraj Singh, the team looks a better rounded unit. Heading into this match, a spanner has been thrown into the team’s plans; Ashish Nehra, the leader of the bowling attack and the most experienced bowler in SRH’s ranks, has been ruled out of the rest of the season because of a hamstring injury.

When

20 May 2016, 2000 Hrs IST

Where

Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, Naya Raipur

Weather

Temperature: Max 35°c, Min 32°c
Humidity: Max 51%
Wind: 11kmph

The Protagonists

Delhi Daredevils need to bat better than they have in their last couple of matches; they managed to score just over a run-a-ball against MI and RPS. DD Assistant Coach Pravin Amre was hopeful that the team would bat better on Friday; “That (batting) is an area we want to improve on, and (in the) game (tomorrow) especially. Once we bat well we are a different team. If we think about it, (when we) won against RCB was the game we batted the best. The way Quinton de Kock got a hundred in RCB’s home ground I think that was our best performance. We have to match that performance,” he told the media on the eve of the match. Quinton de Kock is the key batsman at the top of the innings, while the youngsters in the middle – Karun Nair, Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant – need to shore up the batting with some responsible contributions. On the bowling front, Zaheer Khan, Chris Morris and Amit Mishra will be expected to inflict damage on the opposition.

The left-handers in the SRH line-up will play key roles in the team’s plans. David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan have been key characters in SRH’s successful run this season; Warner is the team’s highest run-getter, while Dhawan is not too far behind, and has played responsibly since his return to form. Yuvraj Singh has shown glimpses of the damage he is capable of causing; in his previous match, he struck the ball crisply in a match-winning cameo, scoring 42 from 24 balls. On the bowling front, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman will need to shoulder more responsibility in the absence of Nehra.

Head to Head

Sunrisers Hyderabad have a 5-2 win-loss record in IPL matches against the Delhi Daredevils. The trend in the last four meetings between these two matches is for the visitors to have prevailed; SRH won in Delhi (2014) and Raipur (2015), while DD won in Visakhapatnam (2015) and Hyderabad earlier this season.

Trivia

Delhi Daredevils have won 3 of their previous 4 IPL matches at Raipur.

Spinners have been very difficult to get away in previous IPL matches at Raipur; they have an overall economy rate of 6.28, as against an economy of 7.82 for the quick bowlers.

Delhi Daredevils have used five different opening pairs and have an average opening partnership of 24.25. This is in stark contrast to Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have used David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan, who average 52.36, as their opening pair so far in the season.

The SRH captain David Warner scored to the extent of 36.28% of the runs in the team’s first seven matches this season. In that period, Shikhar Dhawan had scored 17.01% of the team’s runs. In the following five matches, Dhawan has outscored his captain, contributing 28.74% of the team’s runs, as against Warner’s contribution of 23.54%.

What Next

Delhi Daredevils will be seen next in the last league fixture of the season when they take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at Raipur on May 22. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s next will be their away match against Kolkata Knight Riders at 4pm on May 22.