With the end of the regular season in sight every match in the Indian Premier League is big this week and that is definitely the case on Tuesday when the Sunrisers Hyderabad take on the Delhi Capitals in a crunch clash in Dubai.
The Sunrisers are getting close to be drinking at the last chance saloon. Their race will effectively be run if they don’t win this match whereas the Capitals are looking to get their campaign back on track after a strong first part of the season.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Throughout the previews I have written for the Sunrisers Hyderabad this season I have highlighted how much of an issue their lack of batting depth is and we saw that in spades in their last game. They were seemingly cruising to victory against the Kings XI when they needed 28 runs from 24 balls with a raft of wickets remaining but then came an insane collapse and in the end they never got close, which was disappointing enough as it was but particularly when you consider they had just got themselves back into the tournament with a win over Rajasthan in the game before.
In that win over Rajasthan they actually showed a real intent with the bat and found a couple of players to go big apart from their openers but it looks like that was the anomaly rather than the norm. If they are going to win their last three matches, which they are likely to need to do if they are going to make the postseason, then they simply have to get more out of their batting and hold their nerve when they are under pressure.
Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals were easily the best team in the tournament in the first half of the campaign but that injury to Rishabh Pant came along as it seems to have thrown them right out of sync. They have three regular season matches left and although their place in the play-offs doesn’t look in any doubt, they will want to get back to dominating games again. If that is to happen they just need to get back to pacing their innings once again.
The big concern from what was both a surprising and extremely disappointing defeat to the Kolkata Knight Riders last time out was how their bowlers were taken apart. That has been a real strength of their season but they might need to look at one or two things, not least whether they can keep on playing Tushar Deshpande who has been very expensive with the ball in recent matches. Delhi do match up well to the Sunrisers despite being beaten by them in the reverse meeting though.
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Key Men
You get the feeling if the Sunrisers Hyderabad are going to win this match then Jason Holder will have a big part to play. He’ll be needed to get stuck in early in the bowling innings and he will need to use his experience to ensure another collapse doesn’t happen when he is at the batting crease.
Delhi Capitals need to bowl a whole lot better in this match than they did against the Kolkata Knight Riders so all eyes will be on Kagiso Rabada to set the tone. If he can get rid of the Sunrisers openers the game will be open for the Capitals.
Betting
It is never easy to bet on a match where both the teams on show were beaten so badly last time out but ultimately someone has to win here and I think that team will be the Delhi Capitals. I was surprised earlier in the season when the Sunrisers won the first meeting between these two but the Sunrisers had Kane Williamson playing for them and he is unlikely to play here. He made 41 in that match so he made a big impression on it. Delhi Capitals had no Ravi Ashwin and he’s around for this one so that is two boosts for the Delhi side.
Ultimately I think the tournament has told us that the Delhi Capitals are the better of the two teams. They not only have the better personnel and team but they have the better balance and that could be the crucial thing. Top sides bounce back from heavy defeats with statement performances and that is what I’m expecting from the Capitals here. Sunrisers don’t convince me at all and if their batting comes under pressure you just sense they’ll crumble. On this Dubai pitch I expect Delhi to get it into that situation and so the Capitals can bounce back with a big win here.
Tips
Back Delhi Capitals (-1.5wickets/4.5runs) to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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