The second half of the Indian Premier League double header on Saturday comes from Hyderabad and it sees the high flying Sunrisers Hyderabad taking on the struggling Delhi Daredevils in a huge match for the visitors.
You get the feeling that the next defeat the Daredevils suffer will be their last in terms of being competitive throughout this campaign. There are no such issues for the Sunrisers who will retain their position at the top of the table with a win here.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
It has been a strange season for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. They are the only team in the competition yet to put up a score of 180 or more and yet they have won six of their eight matches. Their bowling has been the best in the tournament by a distance and if their batting ever comes to the party they will be a hard team to beat.
I guess we can excuse them a few batting issues given that when they chose their squad Dave Warner was going to be a mainstay of the batting but you would like to think that after eight matches something would have fallen into place for them. That said, you can’t argue with a side who are regularly winning and the Sunrisers are doing just that.
Delhi Daredevils
This has been a turbulent campaign for the Delhi Daredevils. They have lost six of their nine matches and in truth in some of those defeats they have barely competed and have been battered. They have changed captain which is always the sign of a side both in transition and who are struggling and while that has had a positive effect they need to win their last five matches and hope results go their way elsewhere.
One thing that has certainly changed in recent matches has been the output of their batting line up. Prithvi Shaw has made a big impression coming in for Gautam Gambhir but as their batting has clicked into gear their bowling has weakened a little. They need to get both facets of play together as one and quickly.
Team News
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is expected to be fit for this match for the Sunrisers having given his injury enough rest. It could be Basil Thampi that makes way for him assuming Kumar comes back into the side.
Delhi Daredevils don’t need to change a huge amount from their win last time out although whether they decide to switch Jason Roy and Colin Munro remains to be seen. It is possible that Roy comes into the side.
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Betting
There is no doubt that the Delhi Daredevils have made a massive improvement since Shreyas Iyer have taken over but they are up against the real deal in the competition here and I can’t see beyond the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
At some point the Sunrisers’ batting line up will click into gear and when it does, based on what we’ve seen this season already, it could be game over. Even if their batting doesn’t catch fire we know that Hyderabad can win matches. In their last three outings they have defended 151, 132 and 118 and had plenty to spare in doing so. It is the Sunrisers for me.
Given how well the Sunrisers bowl it could be worth backing someone down the order to do some damage for the Delhi Daredevils and that man is Vijay Shankar. At 12/1 he is well worth a punt. He has shown he can give the ball some heat with 54* from 31 and 17 from just six balls in his last two matches. There are worse 12/1 pokes to get stuck into.
Tips
WON – Back Sunrisers Hyderabad to beat Delhi Daredevils for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Boylesports
Back them here:
Back V.Shankar Top Delhi Daredevils Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
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