da luck： Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad will face each other for the first time this season, and though they are in the top four of the IPL points table, a loss at this stage of the tournament will not be ideal
da jogodeouro： The Preview by Alagappan Muthu11-May-2016Match factsThursday, May 12, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)Big pictureTell me if you’ve heard this one before. A Daredevil and a Sunriser lock horns… Oh, you have? Well, you probably didn’t hear it this season because Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad have yet to play each other this IPL. Now, after 41 matches, with some teams even bracing against elimination, David Warner will finally have to ask himself, “How do I stop Quinton de Kock?”, and Zaheer Khan, “How can we tackle Mustafizur Rahman?”Fortunately, both have handled tricky questions quite well. Sunrisers are the only team that has opted to bat and defended a total in IPL 2016. That is about the best praise a bowling attack can hope for, especially in light of the chasing teams’ success this year. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has found swing again. Ashish Nehra’s resurgence has gone from strength to strength and Mustafizur’s cutter-yorker combination has mystified batsmen.Meanwhile, Daredevils had begun their season with a 98 all out and Zaheer laughed it off saying that their “one bad day is out of the way”. As a young player – and this team has many – hearing your captain say that brings a feeling of safety. They won the next five out of six games, but arrived in Hyderabad with two losses tied to their neck. Another at this stage of the tournament would not be ideal, even if the two teams meet again in a week’s time.Form guideSunrisers Hyderabad WWWWL (Last five matches, most recent first)
Delhi Daredevils LLWWLWatch out forThe openers. Warner and de Kock have been powerful influences at the top of their respective teams’ batting orders. Warner’s first boundary against Rising Pune Supergiants on Tuesday was a flat six over cover that gained elevation the longer it travelled. He has combined that innate striking ability with a thirst to bat long. De Kock has pretty much matched him, a mildly surprising fact if one remembers he is a bit like the little brother in the South African team. Little brothers aren’t supposed to smack the ball as hard as he does (with due respect to the younger McCullum.)The other openers. Zaheer and Nehra have had uncomfortably close relationships with injury. Both fast bowlers are in their late thirties, and it becomes quite apparent when they are fielding, but at the top of their run-up, with a batsman in front of them, they are excellent. Their spells with the new ball and at the back-end of the innings will be crucial.Team newsDaredevils may prefer to have both Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir in the XI considering Hyderabad’s pitches are often fairly dry. De Kock is their wicketkeeper and perhaps their best batsman. That leaves two overseas spots for Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Morris, Sam Billings and JP Duminy, who has not played since last Thursday.Delhi Daredevils (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Rishabh Pant, 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Karun Nair, 5 Sam Billings, 6 JP Duminy/Carlos Brathwaite, 7 Pawan Negi/Shahbaz Nadeem/Jayant Yadav, 8 Zaheer Khan (capt), 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Amit Mishra, 11 Imran Tahir/Chris MorrisSunrisers have found their strongest XI and are unlikely to make any changes. Kane Williamson, though, might be under the scanner considering he has 90 runs off 89 balls from three matches. He is a good bridge between the big-hitters at the top and the finishers below, but would want to up his strike-rate.Sunrisers Hyderabad (probable): 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Moises Henriques, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Naman Ojha (wk), 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Barinder Sran, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Mustafizur RahmanPitch and conditionsBrief afternoon showers are forecast in Hyderabad, but the match shouldn’t be affected. With a slow pitch and the large square boundaries at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium, spin may play a substantial role.Stats and trivia Warner’s strike-rate of 160.06 is the best for a batsman who has faced at least 250 balls. He has faced 293 balls this season – same as Shikhar Dhawan. Daredevils’ openers had added a mere 58 runs in their first six matches. In their last three games, they have added 198.
