Misfiring batters under spotlight as Capitals, Sunrisers seek a lift – T20 IPL 2024

Big Picture

Delhi Capitals will host Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday, five days after their scrappy encounter in Hyderabad. There is a lot in common between the two teams. Both are struggling at the wrong end of the table at the start of the second half of the league stage, separated only by net run rate. These are two teams that are trying desperately to breathe some life into their misfiring batting lineups.

Capitals and Sunrisers have scored the least runs in the league stage this year, and that has been at the heart of their problems.

In their last meeting, Capitals scrambled to 144 after Washington Sundar ran through them with a three-wicket over. But despite Mayank Agarwal laying down a solid platform, Sunrisers were suffocated by Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav and their ploy to take the chase deep did not play out.

Capitals, after losing their first five games, have won their last two and will be buoyed by Mitchell Marsh finding some rhythm at the top, with an aggressive 15-ball 25 in the last match. But they still need to find a fix for the second opening spot.

After a string of low scores, Prithvi Shaw was dropped against Sunrisers, but Phil Salt, his replacement at the top of the order, edged behind off the first ball he faced. But opening is a more natural role for Salt, who was tried in the middle order against Kolkata Knight Riders, and Capitals will hope that given a string of games, he fires at the top.

Sunrisers have struggled to find an opening combination as well. They started the season with Mayank and Abhishek Sharma at the top, before sending Harry Brook up to open after he struggled to find his groove in the middle order. Apart from his century against Knight Riders, Brook has failed to fire. And to accommodate Brook at the top, Sunrisers have juggled Mayank and Abhishek up and down the order, and are yet to settle into a solution.

Recent results

Delhi Capitals: WWLLL (Last five matches, most recent first) Sunrisers Hyderabad: LLLWW

Team news – SRH lose Washington Sundar for the season

Allrounder Washington, who put on his best performance of the season against Capitals, has since been ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury.

Toss and impact player strategy

Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals are likely to stick to the same team that won against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game, with Sarfaraz Khan starting if they bat first and being replaced by Mukesh Yadav and vice versa if they bowl first. If they bowl first, Ishant Sharma could also be the player going off for Sarfaraz.

Probable XII: David Warner (capt), Phil Salt (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan, Manish Pandey, Aman Khan, Axar Patel, Ripal Patel, Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar

Sunrisers Hyderabad

With Washington out injured, Sunrisers may replace him with an out-an-out batter in Abdul Samad or untested allrounder Vivrant Sharma. If they bat first, T Natarajan could be the player to make way for Rahul Tripathi, as he did in the last game.

Probable XII: Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad/Vivrant Sharma, Marco Jansen, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, T Natarajan

Stats that matter

Capitals have won their last four matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but in Delhi, Sunrisers have won four of the last five games between the two teams
Capitals (17) and Sunrisers (29) are at the bottom of the list of sixes hit in IPL 2023
David Warner’s strike rate of 71 against Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the lowest among all bowlers he has faced at least 40 deliveries against in T20s

The big question

Should Delhi Capitals bring Prithvi Shaw back?4 votes

Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo

Source: ESPN Crickinfo