Delhi Capitals, who had only one win in their opening five games, have now managed to string together two wins in a row for the first time this season. They are currently ranked sixth in the points table. But maintaining the momentum won’t be a simple chore as they prepare for the opening IPL 2024 encounter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are coming into this game after breaking their own record for the highest IPL total, are their opponents. With their aggressive style of play, they have redefined T20 batting.
The Indian seam bowling tandem of Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, and Mukesh Kumar has been outstanding for the Capitals in their recent victories. The Capitals have finally made progress in the competition with the ever-dependable Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel running the spin department. In the batting department, Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw have been producing with the bat, but the addition of Jake Fraser-McGurk has given the top order a breath of fresh air. But DC will be worried about David Warner’s form and fitness because he was out of the last game.
From the beginning of the inning until the end, the Sunrisers hitters, led by Travis Head at the top and Heinrich Klaasen at the bottom, have been hitting for maximum power. Five of the eight fifty-plus goals by Sunrisers in this edition have come from them together, and the team will be hoping they keep up the fine work. Though they have amassed enormous totals, Sunrisers will be eager to improve their bowling because they have allowed teams to go close. While T Natarajan (6 wickets with an economy of 9.43) and captain Pat Cummins (9 wickets and an economy of 7.87) have performed admirably, the remaining bowlers have all had higher economies, and SRH will be keen to remedy this as quickly as possible.
When: April 20, 2024, Saturday, at 19:30 IST
Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, India; DC vs. SRH, IPL 2024, Match 29
What to expect: After hosting the second half of the Women’s Premier League, Delhi will host its first match of the season before taking a vacation. The WPL in Delhi saw a few high-scoring matches in its early going, but as the competition went on, the pitch grew slower, resulting in lesser totals. It is unclear how the venue’s unknown conditions would affect the toss decision.
Head-to-head: 11–12 (including a Super over finish that DC prevailed in 2021). DC has a strong recent record against SRH, having prevailed in five of the previous six meetings.
Teams observe:
The Delhi Capitals
Injury/Availability: Warner was injured on his finger during the game against the Gujarat Titans and was unable to play against them. Prior to the match against GT, head coach Ricky Ponting stated that while his X-ray was clear, he did have some swelling around his left hand’s knuckle. According to the most recent information, he is still being evaluated, and a decision about whether or not to play against SRH will be made closer to the game.
Strategies & Matchups: In this IPL, Heinrich Klaasen has amassed 102 runs off of 48 deliveries against spin; this could compel DC to bowl out Kuldeep and Axar prior to his arrival. It makes sense to employ Kuldeep early because spinners have already removed Travis Head twice. Khaleel, who has dismissed left-handed batters five times this season, may also be crucial. Given that the left-arm spinner has already dismissed the South African batsman twice in six deliveries in T20 cricket, Axar is a solid choice against Aiden Markram.
Prithvi Shaw, Jake Fraser-McGurk, David Warner/Sumit Kumar, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, and Khaleel Ahmed are the probable members of the playing eleven. [Sub: Abishek Porel, Impact].
Hyderabad’s Sunrisers
Injury/Availability: As of right now, Sunrisers have no reported injuries.
Strategies & Matchups: Should Warner be involved in the match, Pat Cummins is a solid choice to go up against him because the skipper of the SRH has already taken care of left-handers five times with an economy of 5.35. Warner has been quiet in the past thanks to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has removed him once and given up only 18 runs in 29 deliveries. Given that he has already removed Shaw twice in 36 balls at a cost of just 35 runs, he is also a viable choice against him. Bhuvneshwar against Pant, though, would not be a wise choice because the DC captain has scored 79 runs at a strike rate of 219.44 off of him.
The likely starting eleven are Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins (c), Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Jaydev Unadkat, and T Natarajan. [Mayank Markande, Impact sub].
Were you aware?
– Morning People In six IPL games, Hyderabad has amassed 409 runs against spinners, second only to Gujarat Titans, despite the latter having played one more match. The greatest spinner economy of this IPL is 9.64 against SRH, followed by 9.42 against Kolkata Knight Riders.
– With 1278 runs in six games, Sunrisers are third among the teams with the highest runs this IPL. Despite having played seven games apiece, MI and RCB are at the top with 1344 and 1327, respectively. This IPL, SRH had the most scoring rate at 10.81, followed closely by KKR at 10.56.
– The Delhi Capitals have lost eight of their 14 home games during the 2019 Indian Premier League, and they have the lowest win-loss ratio of any team at 0.625.
– In this IPL, the DC bowlers have given up the fewest sixes (9) in the Powerplay, while the SRH bowlers have given up the most, 19 (second only to RCB’s 27).
What did they say?
“Next game, we’re going to encounter the freight train, which is SRH. For that, we have already begun our preparations. Thus, we anticipate placing in the top four if we have a strong week and a half,” said James Hopes, the bowling coach for DC.
