New Delhi: A brilliant start and then constant falter saw the highly expected Delhi Daredevils loiter to the bottom of the table. And now with their hopes craving for breathe, the Daredevils host the confident defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium tonight.
An opener with a loss, then two consecutive defeats, and then a series of defeats is all left to describe Delhi Daredevils as they have hit the rock bottom of the league table. With six matches still left on their fixture, Zaheer Khan and his men will afford to lose just one, to keep at least the eliminator-round hopes alive. However, the bad news that follows on is the Zaheer Khan will be missing out on the remaining on the tournament, putting a huge dent on their formidable pace attack.
Sunrisers, on the other hand, is brewing with confidence having defeated the high-flying Kolkata Knight Riders at their fortress, courtesy a gritty knock from skipper David Warner, who notched a quick-fire 123 at home. The bowlers too did a wonderful job having stopped the slowly marching KKR side.
Despite numbers and figures going alongside the Orange Army, they have lost all their matches outside home. What lies ahead is thus, a definite watch!
Here are the players to watch out for at tonight's encounter...
Delhi Daredevils
Kagiso Rabada- If one thing that has been working right on path for the Daredevils, it is definitely their bowling unit. And with Rabada joining the squad, the bolwing unit has turned stronger as ever.
He is young, yet his bowling displays ample maturity. He can swing the ball, go for bouncers and when the team needs him he can bat too (walk back to the match against Mumbai Indians where he scored a surprising 44 runs).
Chris Morris- Much hope relies on this South African all-rounder as Delhi take on the path uphill. Having shined with his varying deliveries, Morris has scalped quite a few wickets already, but now needs to come strong with his bat too. Delhi's batting line-up has once again come under question, and is in dire need of support from the middle order. Thus, a good knock with the bat is due off Morris for his fans in India.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
David Warner- Although the cards were in favour of Hyderabad as they took on Kolkata in their previous match, no one did actually anticipate the Warner Whirlwind. There were stright drives, there were cover strokes, there were sweeps, and of course the switch hits- Warner cast his magic all round the field to notch up a century against the formidable bowling line-up of KKR. Well, Delhi's Feroz Shah stadium could just be version 2.0 of it, so sit back and expect the best.
Bhuvi-Rashid effect- If Hyderabad can boost of a strong batting line-up, they can scream of an even stronger bowling unit with the likes of purple cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the newbie from Afghanistan, Rashid Khan. Together, the pair has been sensational with their wicket taking abilities, restricting important partnership and getting on to the nerves of the batsmen at strike.
Speaking about the former, he has also emerged as a sort of a mentor for the pacers in his team, guiding them during the over with lengths and line and also the field set-up.
