SunRisers Hyderabad face Delhi Capitals in a must-win game on Tuesday in Dubai as the race for the playoffs reaches its final stages in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. SRH come into this game on the back of a shocking loss to Kings XI Punjab that saw them slip to the seventh spot in the points table and they risk becoming the second team after Chennai Super Kings to be knocked out of the race to the playoffs. SRH have had their bowling line-up mostly unaffected even after losing key bowlers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mitchell Marsh as the inclusion of Jason Holder and the rise of T Natarajan as a death-overs specialist as helped their cause. It's the inconsistency of the batsmen they need to worry about.
Delhi, on the other hand, have the highest wicket-taker of IPL 2020 in their midst and one of IPL's most successful off-spinners, too. The batsmen have been doing well despite the choke against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, and Delhi will look to get the last two points that confirm their spot in the final four.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Manish Pandey: The Karnataka batsman has played a key role as the anchor as well as the aggressor in the middle order for SRH and has scored 310 runs from 11 matches at 31.00 with three fifties. His unbeaten 83 against Rajasthan Royals helped SRH get back to winning ways after three consecutive defeats last Thursday. SRH will bank on him to come good with the bat.
Rashid Khan: The wily leg-spinner has been miserly with the ball through the season and although batsmen have often chosen to play him out without taking many risks in the middle overs, 14 wickets from 11 matches at an economy rate of 5.29 show that the spinner has been immensely successful for SRH.
Jason Holder: An injury to Kane Williamson meant Jason Holder found a place in the SRH XI; and the big man from West Indies has impressed with returns of 3 for 33 and 2 for 27 in the two games he has played thus far. Capable of using the long handle in the lower middle order, Holder, when playing to his full potential, could be dangerous to any opposition.
DELHI CAPITALS
Shikhar Dhawan: The only batsman to hit back-to-back hundreds in the IPL and one of Delhi's most successful batsmen this season, Dhawan will look to carry his team to the playoffs through his contributions with the bat. Dhawan is the second-highest scorer in the league thus far with 471 runs from 11 matches at 58.87 and a strike rate of 148.11.
Shreyas Iyer: Captain Iyer has had a few hiccups of late as Delhi have stumbled in a few games after an imperious winning run in the first half of the tournament but that hasn't affected his form with the bat. An inning of 47 off 38 balls in Delhi's last outing, against KKR, pushed his tally to 382 runs form 11 games and he is the second highest scorer for Delhi this season after Dhawan.
Kagiso Rabada: The team's form, good or bad, hasn't affected Rabada's returns with the ball as he leads the wicket taker's charts with 23 wickets from 11 matches at 7.64 runs per over. His bowling partnership with Anrich Nortje, fellow pacer from South Africa, has helped Delhi in the Powerplay and the team would hope that the Rabada-Nortje pair gets the better of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow with the new ball.