IPL 2021 | SRH vs DC: Rejuvenated Sunrisers face in form Capitals on their comeback trail
Sunrisers Hyderabad have tasted victory for the first time this season courtesy of their all-around performance against the Punjab Kings. They came close to winning on various other occasions as well in their last three matches, but something or the other kept holding them back (mostly it was their batting). Now, with settled batting order and the calming influence of Kane Williamson, the Orange Army would be looking to make it two in two as they look to bury the Chennai jinx behind them. The Capitals on the other hand have had a resolute force going with them having defeated Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians after a close loss against Rajasthan Royals. All their departments are clicking and the Chennai wicket is more than suitable enough for what would now be a three-pronged spin attack for them with the comeback of Axar Patel, who has recovered from Covid-19. The calming influence of Kane Williamson Having lost the last three of their games while chasing, Sunrisers in their last game, seemed to have lost control despite having to chase a meagre total of 121 runs. The team in orange started to lose their cool after losing their skipper David Warner. However, the presence of Williamson and his ability to manoeuvre spin meant that the Sunrisers were able to get past the thick of things relatively easily at the end. It is this influence that was missing in the previous games. T Natarajan being ruled out of the tournament could turn out to be costly for the Hyderabad unit. But the way Khaleel Ahmed has leapt up to the opportunity, it might just turn out to be a blessing in disguise for both Ahmed and the team. With Siddarth Kaul and Vijay Shankar finding their feat and Kedar Jadhav bringing in his wealth of experience at the back end alongside Abhishek Sharma’s all-around abilities being utilised to its potential, SRH have shown promises to be a nicely knit unit. The deadly spin trio of Capitals Amit Mishra showed in the last game how deceptive he could be with the ball as he picked up his fifth four-for in the IPL, the most by any Indian bowler. MA Chidamabaram is also only the third ground in IPL history where 38-year-old Mishra has 10 or more wickets, the other two being Arun Jaitley Stadium and Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, his two home grounds in the league. But it is not only Mishra who is to be feared. Home town hero Ravi Ashwin and his million variations with the ball, and him being extra dangerous against left-handers (read David Warner) also becomes a point of worry for the Sunrisers. The third is Axar Patel who is coming on the back of a great England series and he almost made Jonny Bairstow his bunny in that series, cleaning him up twice in four innings. Among the 80 wickets that he has taken so far, Axar has dismissed 49 % of top-order batsmen and 28% of his dismissals have come courtesy bowled. All this is more than good enough to suggest that if he gets a dry ball on the Chepauk wicket that this IPL has been used to, there would be many worried faces in the Orange brigade’s dugout. Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals Match Number- 20 Date and Time: April 25, 2021, 07:30 pm IST, 02:00 pm GMT Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report Chennai pitch has been rebuked a lot, although Warner has given the curator a green chit saying that he could do nothing about that. The wicket is slow, bounce is low and also two-paced and a target of as small as 140 looks completely defendable if bowled in the right areas and with the right amount of variation. A similar sort of wicket is expected in this game as well and Delhi Capitals with three prime spinners will relish the opportunity. Weather and Toss Clouds would be passing by Chepauk and when that happens, there is some amount of dew in the air for sure as has been proven in the last three games at the venue. The skipper winning the toss would therefore look to field first without any doubt. Team News Sunrisers Hyderabad Having finally found their perfect XI, it would only be reckless if they change it in the next game. Although keeping out Manish Pandey is not as easy as it seems, but for the larger good of the side, we might see him warming the bench once again. Strongest XI David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson, Virat Singh, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul Delhi Capitals If Axar Patel is coming back into the side, then the only place available for him is that of Lalit Yadav. Now that Lalit has played well in both the games that Capitals won, getting him out of the side won’t be easy either. Given the fact that Shimron Hetmyer took the team over the line last game, it wouldn’t be easy to drop him either. But if the choice is between him and Lalit on the Chennai wicket, Lalit might get the preference because of his ability to bowl 2-3 overs of off-spin, which can come in handy. If at all they are to make a change, the bold call would be to trade Prithvi Shaw for Lalit Yadav and open with Marcus Stoinis or Steve Smith along with Shikhar Dhawan. Strongest XI Prithvi Shaw/ Lalit Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan Dream XI Predictions / Fantasy XI Suggestions Jonny Bairstow (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shikhar Dhawan (c), Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Abhishek Sharma, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan
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