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Rickety Daredevils in quest to arrest freefall
- Updated: May 19, 2016
Match facts
Friday, May 20, 2016 Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)
Big Picture
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 …
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