Sunrisers dealt Nehra blow ahead of clash to seal playoffs spot

Five wins in their first seven games had Delhi Daredevils in a position of strength that gave an impression of a massive turnaround from their previous campaigns. However, the second half of their season has seen a downswing in fortunes, with a solitary win from five subsequent games putting their playoffs qualification in jeopardy. Delhi, in that sense, will have a chance to start afresh as they return to their second home to the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, for the remainder of their clashes against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Backing them is their record at Raipur, where they have only lost one game to the Sunrisers of the four they've played.

Sunrisers, under the leadership of David Warner, have sprung one surprise too many in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League. Warner, who is the third-highest run-getter this season, has led from the front, with Shikhar Dhawan as an able accomplice, to give the team ideal starts up front. The bowling department led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has 16 wickets in 12 games, behind only Mitchell McClenaghan (17), in tandem with Ashish Nehra has delivered promptly when the captain has looked at him for wickets, having nine wickets against his name.

The side, however, will not have the services of Nehra for their clash against Delhi on Friday (May 20) after the bowler was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring tendon injury. Tom Moody, Sunrisers' head coach, reiterated that while the team has a choice of plenty, they would prefer going in with Barinder Sran as a life for like replacement. Sran, who was fined 10 per cent of his match fee yesterday, for behaviour contrary to the spirit of the game, could come in handy, with a record of nine wickets in as many games at an average of 27.77.

With the points table as cramped as it is this season, one of either Gujarat Lions or Kolkata Knight Riders will join Hyderabad at the top of the table with 16 points today. But it is Hyderabad's healthy net run rate of +0.40 that will keep them in first place, leaving three teams stuck on 14 points and Delhi on 12.

It will be curtains for Delhi if Sunrisers win tomorrow, with them having all but sealed a spot in the playoffs jumping to 18 points with another match to go, which potentially gives them to chance to finish at the top. A win for Delhi will mean them being tied with Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and the loser of the Kolkata-Gujarat clash today. That will leave them needing to beat Bangalore in their last group game to progress to the knockouts.

Sunrisers have had a rather consistent tournament with four losses in their 12 games, the latest of which came against Delhi in Hyderabad last week. While Delhi's batting has been a cause of concern with its inconsistency, the key lies in picking up Warner or Dhawan to set Sunrisers back, exposing a middle order that hasn't been tested. Deepak Hooda was promoted to No.3 against Punjab to perhaps have a hit and gain some confidence, but it was Yuvraj Singh who came in at a crucial juncture against Punjab that took his side home along with Ben Cutting's cameo.

Delhi have had the likes of Chris Morris, Quinton de Kock, Sanju Samson deliver in spurts, but they would need an all-round performance to pip the likes of Sunrisers.

When: Delhi Daredevils vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Match 52 on May 20 at 20:00 ISTWhere: Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, RaipurWhat to expect: Peak summer in this part of the country means soaring temperatures, with the forecast for game day being as high as 40 in the day. However, the game being played in the night will give the teams and spectators alike some respite.

Team News

Delhi Daredevils: For Delhi, the last time they beat Hyderabad, Rishabh Pant played a vital knock, taking on their left-handed bowlers. Having made a few changes every game, Delhi haven't quite found a winning side to stick with. Even against the Sunrisers, the composition of the squad, whether it will have an extra batsman, or not, will depend on the conditions and the wicket, said Pravin Amre on the eve of the clash.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Ashish Nehra being ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury comes as a massive blow to the side, which could see the likes of Barinder Sran coming in for him. Coach Tom Moody, however, left the decision for the day as to whether they needed to opt for a spinner, in perhaps Karn Sharma, who has played only three games this season, or go with Sran, depending on the conditions.

What they said:

Tom Moody: We appreciate that Delhi is a very good side. They beat us in Hyderabad and we know they are very competitive with some very dangerous players amongst them so we expect them to come out all guns blazing regardless whether this is a do-or-die match. We're playing our best team tomorrow. It's important that we continue our momentum. We couldn't give everyone as many opportunities as they would have liked but at the end of the day we've still got some unfinished business. The table's getting very competitive and we would like to finish off by winning our last couple of games and have ourselves in the top 2 teams.

Pravin Amre: Batting is an area of concern for us in which we want to improve. We would want to improve in that tomorrow, especially. We know that once we have batted well, we are a different team. If you think about our win against RCB, it was a game we batted the best. The way Quinton got a hundred there, chasing 191 in Bangalore was our best performance. We have to match that and what we did before. Coming to tomorrow's game, we have great memories of playing in Raipur. It is our home ground; this will be a home game. So far, when we played at home, we won three matches in Delhi. We're really looking forward to tomorrows game with home advantage and we're hopeful of home support which will be vital.

Did you know?

- Daredevils have played four IPL matches in Raipur and won three of them. The only team to beat them at Raipur are the Sunrisers. Hyderabad have a 5-2 advantage over Delhi Daredevils in IPL.

- Average score batting first at Raipur in IPL matches in 146. The win-loss record for chasing teams here is 2-2.

- David Warner needs 33 more runs to become the first overseas captain to aggregate 600 runs in a season in IPL.

Squads:

Delhi Daredevils: Quinton de Kock (w), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Jean-Paul Duminy, Jayant Yadav, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohammed Shami, Sam Billings, Shahbaz Nadeem, Pawan Negi, Imran Tahir, Pawan Suyal, Carlos Brathwaite, Akhil Herwadkar, Chama Milind, Shreyas Iyer, Pratyush Singh, Mahipal Lomror, Khaleel Ahmed, Zaheer Khan (c)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Ricky Bhui, Trent Boult, Moises Henriques,Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddarth Kaul, Mustafizur Rahman, Naman Ojha, Karn Sharma, Tirumalsetti Suman, David Warner (Captain), Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ashish Reddy, Bipul Sharma, Ben Cutting,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Eoin Morgan, Vijay Shankar, Barinder Sran, Aditya Tare, Kane Williamson