Rickety Daredevils in quest to arrest freefall

Friday, May 20, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

It's that time of the season when teams scramble for the playoffs. Sunrisers Hyderabad are well placed to qualify, and a win against Delhi Daredevils on Friday or Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday would guarantee them a top-two finish. Wins in both the games would help them top the charts. They are one of only three teams in the scramble to have a positive net rate (+0.4), which means that they could qualify with two losses as well. The only concern for them is the void left by Ashish Nehra, who has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL with a hamstring injury.

With four losses in their last five matches, Daredevils are floating on thin ice. They have to win both their games to have a shot at the playoffs for the first time since 2012. That the wounded Daredevils have to play two peaking sides - Sunrisers and Royal Challengers Bangalore - means they have to lift their game by several notches. They will also have to adjust to their second 'home' in Raipur, where the mercury levels are hovering over the 40 degree mark.

Daredevils have been undone by constant chopping and changing after a sprightly start. Sample this: only Amit Mishra, Karun Nair and Sanju Samson have featured in all their matches so far this season. In comparison, seven Sunrisers players - David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mustafizur Rahman and Naman Ojha - have featured in each of their games.

The Powerplay, where Daredevils score at 6.95, the lowest among all teams, has been another area of concern. Zaheer Khan, the captain, attributed a part of that to decisions not going in his side's favour, after the 19-run loss via D/L method to Rising Pune Supergiants. Quinton de Kock, the highest run-getter for Daredevils this season and the side's ninth highest overall, had been incorrectly given out caught behind twice in three matches. That Daredevils have had five opening combinations - the joint most along with Mumbai Indians - has not helped their cause either.

Delhi Daredevils LLWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Sunrisers Hyderabad WLWWW

Zaheer's variety - slower offcutter, quick offcutter and the knuckle ball - and funky fields had been crucial to Daredevils' early success. Even when Krunal Pandya swatted away the rest of the attack last weekend, Zaheer held his own, giving away only 23 runs in four overs. The reward for his persistence was the wicket of Martin Guptill. Can he deliver again under pressure?

Henriques has been a constant for Sunrisers this season. He may not muscle the ball like David Warner or unfurl a bag of cutters like Mustafizur Rahman, but his small contributions have played a part in Sunrisers' upswing. The last time these two sides met in Raipur, Henriques fashioned Sunrisers' win with an unbeaten 74. So a return to the eastern city is sure to elicit happy memories?

Nehra's injury will force Sunrisers to make a change by default. Barinder Sran is likely to return to the line-up in a like-for-like swap although Sunrisers have other options in right-arm seamer Abhimanyu Mithun and left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma. They may also consider recalling Kane Williamson in place of Ben Cutting, despite the Australia allrounder's unbeaten 18 off 11 balls that sealed the game on Sunday.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (probable): 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Ben Cutting/Kane Williamson, 6 Naman Ojha(wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 9 Karn Sharma 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Barinder Sran

Given Daredevils' tactics, everyone in the squad has the chance to make the XI.

Delhi Daredevils (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock(wk), 2 Shreyas Iyer/Mayank Agarwal, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Rishabh Pant, 6 JP Duminy/Carlos Brathwaite/Sam Billings, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Zaheer Khan(capt), 10 Nathan Coulter-Nile/Imran Tahir, 11 Mohammed Shami/Jayant Yadav/Pawan Negi/Shahbaz Nadeem

The surface in Raipur offered early assistance to the seamers last season. Friday is expected to be a warm day with showers forecast later in the evening. Both teams will have to factor in the big boundaries.

"Once we bat well we are a different team. I think we delivered our best batting performance against Royal Challengers in Bangalore. We have to bat like the way we did there while chasing 191. We also have very good memories of also playing in Raipur."
Delhi Daredevils assistant coach Pravin Amre