Hyderabad: The Sunrisers are proving unbeatable at home while the Delhi Daredevils haven’t quite garnered a reputation of being good travellers yet, having lost one and won their other away game. On Wednesday, the visitors have another tough assignment at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium — where Eagles dare. Monday’s win, after dousing the flames of a late resurgence by the Kings XI Punjab, should have been satisfying for the hosts who have so far kept a clean sheet in the three matches played in their backyard. That puts a spring in the steps of David Warner’s band of brothers who have dished out red hot stuff in orange outfits.
There have been questions of consistency but overall the team has gelled well. The combinations have clicked too. For example the inclusion of two Afghan spinners — Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan — was thought to be unusual before the two left the Kings in a twist in the middle overs. The top order came undone but Warner stood firm and found an able ally in Naman Ojha to give his bowlers some runs to bowl at.
However, they would definitely need more runs against a robust Delhi batting line up that boasts of aggressive players such as centurion Sanju Samson, Sam Billings, Rishabh Pant, Corey Anderson and Chris Morris. The Eagles will have to bat big for sure. Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques would hope to be among the runs to keep their confidence high — they contributed very little with the willows in the previous game. It goes without saying that captain Warner will have to shoulder much of the batting burden and land those telling blows for his team.
The bats would be up against an attack-oriented pack in rival captain Zaheer Khan, Morris and Anderson. Shahbaz Nadeem and Amit Mishra provide the spin options and have contributed amply to the team’s cause too. On the Sunrisers’ bowling front, it would be interesting to see if they bring back seamer Ashish Nehra in place of Barinder Sran, who proved expensive in the last match. That apart, the foreign player equation could remain unchanged unless cutters specialist Mustafizur Rahman is making an incision for his inclusion.
