Guwahati: Kane Williamson-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will take on Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals (DC) in match 33 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Wednesday at the Dubai International Stadium.
These two teams finished at opposite ends of the table during the first leg of IPL 2021. The Delhi Capitals had everything going their way in that period – Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw ruled the powerplay, their bowlers shone through – as they climbed to the top of the table with six wins in eight matches. There’s only more good news for them coming into the second half: Shreyas Iyer, one of their best batters last season, has returned from injury.
And he’s feeling “on top of the world”. They also have a guy who wants to be the best finisher in the world. All this means they have pretty much everything in place to secure their third consecutive playoffs spot.
Meanwhile, it was not all good for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the India leg of this season. Their captain David Warner was replaced – and dropped – halfway through the first leg as a result of his waning form. They fielded 21 players in the first half of IPL 2021, and none of their quicks played all seven matches.
While they had a few commendable individual bowling performances, their batting let them down on most occasions, and as a result, they could win just one out of their seven games. This time around, they also don’t have Jonny Bairstow, who was their highest run-scorer in the first leg.
They will be hoping to find inspiration from their 2020 campaign in the UAE when they made the playoffs, but it doesn’t look that easy for now. A lot rests on Warner and their captain Kane Williamson to turn their campaign around.
IPL 2021 resumed on Sunday in the UAE, after a break of four and a half months dur to COVID-19.