Tonight's IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad favours the former, after their excellent run in the first leg. Hyderabad, with a solitary win so far, have the odds stacked against them.
Delhi are currently in second place, just behind Chennai Super Kings, albeit with the same points. They had a brilliant run in the first phase, with six wins out of eight games. Even a forced replacement of captain Shreyas Iyer, by Rishabh Pant, did not hurt their cause.
The team will happily welcome Iyer, considering his form last season. That will even enhance their batting strength and help the team balance. Iyer will join the in-form openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw, at the top of the batting order. He can replace Steven Smith, who did not have a very successful first phase. Pant will add firepower to the middle order, and will be followed by Shimron Hetmyer and Marcus Stoinis as finishers.
If Smith moves out of the first XI, they can replace one of their Indian bowlers by Anrich Nortje. Along with Kagiso Rabada, Nortje was very successful for them in the UAE last year. This time, too, they are expected to create trouble along with R. Ashwin and the ever-improving Avesh Khan making it a very strong bowling pack.
Hyderabad are currently at the bottom of the table. In the first half, they had a change of captain when David Warner lost his place in the side and was replaced at the helm by Kane Williamson, who will continue to lead. Warner the batter (along with Wriddhiman Saha the wicketkeeper) is likely to return for Jonny Bairstow. However, they will need their Indian batters, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, and Virat Singh, to step up.
Led by Rashid Khan, the much-vaunted Hyderabad bowling has not met expectations this season. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma will hope for a much better show, especially in the absence of T. Natarajan, who will miss a few matches after testing positive for Covid-19. However, Khaleel Ahmed is likely to replace Natarajan.
Betway Fantasy Tips
- The Delhi top order is in great form. Pick at least one, if not more, of the Dhawan-Shaw-Iyer trio.
- Rabada, Nortje, and Avesh are in wicket-taking form and can be trusted.
- From Hyderabad, Warner, Williamson, Holder, and Rashid are the key picks for any fantasy team.
Likely XIs
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, R. Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Avesh Khan
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson (c), Kedar Jadhav, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma
Prediction
Delhi Capitals look favourite.
Blitzpools Fantasy XI
Rishabh Pant; Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prithvi Shaw, Manish Pandey, Abdul Samad; Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder; Avesh Khan, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Khaleel Ahmed
