DaredevilsvSunrisers: Tough road ahead for Dravid’s boys
Based on current form, a Delhi Daredevils-Sunrisers Hyderabad match would be the biggest mismatch. For a team bowled out for 67 in only the last match and lying at the bottom in points table, positives are hard to come by. Delhi Daredevils’ mentor Rahul Dravid, however, says DD can only ‘go up from here’.
The fact that his team has played only eight matches so far — the least among all teams — gives him hope of making it to the playoffs. But to succeed in that redemption path, DD need to win all their remaining matches.
To add to DD’s challenge, they face an in-form SRH on Tuesday at home. The David Warner-led side is sitting pretty on third spot with 13 points and a win will all but ensure the defending champions’ entry into the playoffs.
Warner has led the team by example and his match-winning 59-ball 126 once again proved his hitting prowess. The opener is the leading run-scorer of IPL 2017 with 459 runs and has been ably supported by fellow opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan (341 runs).
Yuvraj Singh needs 48 runs to become the 18th batsman to complete 2500 runs in IPL. The left-hand batsman has scored 2452 runs at an average of 25.02.
David Warner who scored SRH’s first ton in his last match, needs two sixes to become the first batsman from SRH to hit 100 or more sixes in IPL.
SRH also have the talented Kane Williamson, the experienced Yuvraj Singh and the effective Moises Henriques. Together, they make a terrific lot.
And it’s not only the batting that sets SRH apart. They have some of the best death-overs bowlers, leading with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The medium-pacer has already picked 20 wickets and leads the bowling charts. Together with Ashish Nehra, he has the ability to choke any batting line-up. In the spin department, Rashid Khan from Afghanistan has been a revelation. He has taken 12 wickets so far and is among the top five wicket-takers.
It’s not that DD don’t have the ammunition to counter such a side. But they need to fire in unison. The young Sanju Samson (289 runs) and Shreyas Iyer (157) have been their two best performers with the bat. Sam Billings and Rishabh Pant have also been effective on occasions.
But what has hurt Delhi the most is Karun Nair’s form. One of the only two Indians to hit a triple century in Tests, Karun has managed only 89 runs in eight matches. Karun also led the team against Kings XI Punjab in Zaheer Khan’s absence but the added responsibility could not bring the best out of him. If DD are to remain in hunt for a seemingly improbable entry into playoffs, Karun will have to perform.
He will be leading DD again as Zaheer has still not recovered.
Chris Morris is one player who has shone both with the bat and ball. However, he has not got enough support from his teammates. With 12 scalps, he is DD’s top wickettaker in a line-up that has some quality pacers.
An attack like DD’s that includes Zaheer, Pat Cummins, Md Shami, Kagiso Rabada, would be fancied to rip apart any opposition. But the opposite has happened. The pacers, along with spinners Amit Mishra and Shahbaz Nadeem, have struggled.
However, they have been on the road for long and now play a series of matches at home.
UPHILL Starting with Tuesday’s game against SRH, DD need to win all their remaining games to stay in contention