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Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils will face off each other in the 36th match of IPL 2018. Sunrisers will be on cloud nine after defending three relatively under par totals in their last three games. SRH team is built around their bowlers and they will continue to depend on their bowlers to come good - to suck the life out of opposition team. The area of concern for SRH is their batting. Shikhar Dhawan's lack of consistency, Manish Pandey's fidgety, Shakib Al Hasan's moments of mindlessness and lack of power hitters mean that their batting heavily rests on shoulders of Kane Williamson.
For Delhi Daredevils the equation is pretty simple - win all their reaming games to confirm a spot in playoffs. The win against Rajasthan Royals was a testament of DD's strong batting lineup. In Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Prithwi Shaw they have one of the best young Indian batting trios. Shaw batting is filled with grace, Iyer possesses brilliant hand-eye coordination and Pant's hands generate power which is unmatched by any of his peers. Inability to put up a complete bowling performance has been a major cause behind their current precarious situation and if they manage that then SRH could be put under the pump, come Saturday night
Playing XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: SRH can replace Yusuf Pathan with Deepak Hooda. Wriddhiman Saha, who is having an underwhelming season with the bat, could be replaced with Shreevats Goswami. If Bhuvneshwar Kumar is fit, he will straight away walk into eleven at expense of either Basil Thampi or Sandeep Sharma.
Likely XI: A Hales, S Dhawan, K Williamson(C), M Pandey, Y Pathan/ D Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, W Saha/ S Goswami, R Khan, B Kumar/S Sharma, B Thampi, S Kaul.
Delhi Daredevils: With the bat, Glenn Maxwell is having an underwhelming season - 131 runs at an average of 16.37. DD can consider replacing Maxwell with Gurkeerat Singh or Jason Roy and can bring in Daniel Christian or Junior Dala for Liam Plunkett. In Singh, they will have a good T20 utility player.
Likely XI: P Shaw, C Munro, S Iyer (C), R Pant, G Maxwell/G Singh/J Roy, V Shankar, L Plunkett/D Christian/ J Dala, S Nadeem, A Khan, A Mishra, T Boult.
Key Battles
Kane Williamson vs Amit Mishra
Kane Williamson's game is built around his strong defense. His stroke play is an extension of defensive strokes. Not gifted with power, he relies on timing and placement to fetch him runs, even in the game's shortest format. Amit Mishra, unlike other leg-spinners who bowl quicker in the air, tosses the bowl to generate revs. When both these experienced men will come up against each other it promises to be an exciting contest.
Rishabh Pant vs Siddarth Kaul
Rishabh Pant has lit the IPL 2018 with his breathtaking stroke play. So far bowlers have been unable to find a chink in his armor. Siddarth Kaul who possesses a deceptive knuckleball has been the most impressive uncapped Indian seamer. If Kaul can keep Pant quiet, then SRH will again stand a good chance to restrict opposition's score.
Strategy
Sunrisers Hyderabad: SRH should consider using Shakib Al Hasan as a floater to counter spinners of DD as their stock ball comes into the left-hander (Nadeem: left arm finger-spinner, Mishra: Leg-spinner). Prithvi Shaw should be attacked with short stuff and Colin Munro should receive a dose of Pathan/Hooda's off-spin. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant threat can be avoided by spin duo of Shakib Al Hasan and Rashid Khan.
Delhi Daredevils: Shreyas Iyer should ask his fast-men to bowl full and straight to Shikhar Dhawan who is at the moment struggling with footwork. To Kane Williamson and Alex Hales, left-arm spin of Shahbaz Nadeem will be handy for tying them. At death, wide yorkers should be used liberally to keep the ball away from hitting zone of Manish Pandey and Shakib Al Hasan.
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