After the Delhi Daredevils lost their home match against the Royals Challengers Bangalore at the Feroz Shah Kotla by 10 wickets, there was a strange negative energy surrounding the team that time. It was given to understand that the Daredevils won’t be making it to the play-off stages.
Still, some of their players and their support staff were hopeful after they upstaged out-of-form Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets. But thereafter, Delhi lost their way.
Before they take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad at Raipur on Saturday, there is practically nothing at stake for the Daredevils. They have nothing to lose. If they win this encounter against Hyderabad and, then, perform to their potential in next couple of matches, still their chances of making it to the play-offs are dim. However, they will only benefit monetarily if they can consolidate position in the points table.
Contrarily, the Hyderabad are still in the fray to be in the play-offs and competing with some of the teams like the Kolkata Knight Riders, RCB and the Mumbai Indians. After beating the Rajasthan Royals on Thursday, the Sunrisers are a confident lot. Delhi will indeed need some special effort to stop the Sunrisers in the 45th match of this year’s IPL.
Last time, both the teams met each other, the Daredevils had won the game by four runs. Delhi chose to bat first and made 167 and restricted the Sunrisers to a score of 163. Delhi captain JP Duminy was the star performer along with the opener Shreyas Iyer.
