IPL 10, Match 40, DD v SRH: Sunrisers Hyderabad Predicted XI

The sun is indeed shining bright for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. A champion side were led by a champion captain to decimate table toppers KKR. Skipper David Warner stole the show, as KKR’s bowlers had no answer to the Australian’s 59-ball 126. He smashed the ball with brute force, picked his gaps, and scampered between the wickets. Warner didn’t put a foot wrong. His whirlwind innings powered the Sunrisers to yet another score in excess of 200.

The Orange Cap now sits firmly on Warner’s head. While their lead pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is also a proud owner of the Purple Cap. SRH put on the second consecutive 100-run partnership for the opening wicket. The bowlers backed up Warner’s earth-shattering knock to restrict KKR to 161. They held on to their catches and were brilliant in the outfield as well.

It’s hard to find drawbacks in a side following such a professional performance. The Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to maintain this unprecedented momentum as the business end of the tournament is round the corner. They will take on a struggling Delhi Daredevils side who are on the back of an embarrassing defeat. Here’s a look at the predicted XI for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as they clash against the Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Openers (David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan)

If David Warner continues to play like he did against the Knight Riders, there will be no stopping him. Although Shikhar Dhawan’s strike rate was less than David Warner’s score altogether, he deserves credit for staying at the crease to support his skipper.

Warner was destructive, Warner was fierce and essentially Warner was Warner. He played the kind of knock that comes naturally to him. Such an innings doesn’t come too often in T20 cricket, but the kind of devastating form he’s in, Warner could well go on to single-handedly dominate a wobbly Daredevils bowling attack.

Middle order (Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Naman Ojha and Deepak Hooda)

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson has looked the only batsman with an intent to score runs. He did start off slowly when Shikhar Dhawan fell, but was soon hitting the boundaries at will. He got to a 25-ball 40, only to be unfortunately run-out off the final delivery in the innings.

In defence of the other batsmen in SRH’s middle order, they haven’t had too many opportunities to bat lately. Yuvraj Singh seemed to be in Test match mode during his run-a-ball 6. Quite like Ojha and Henriques, Deepak Hooda hasn’t had much to do for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

However, Hooda is always a useful batsman at the back end of the innings. It’s true that he hasn’t had much to show for in terms of runs this year, but this man can strike the ball a fair distance. Hooda can also chip in with four overs of spin to add variety to the Sunrisers bowling attack.

Naman Ojha last batted on April 17 in a match against the Kings XI Punjab, during which he scored a quick-fire 34. He hasn’t had much of a role to play behind the stumps as well as he’s gone without a single catch or a stumping in the last four games. Nevertheless, the Sunrisers Hyderabad should consider playing Ojha up the order, as he finds himself more comfortable at one drop.

All-rounder (Moises Henriques)

Henriques’ role has been to come at the back end of the innings to score some quick runs. He didn’t quite have a great game last time against KKR as the allrounder his services weren’t required with the bat while he bowled 3 overs and gave away runs at 10.50. Earlier in the tournament though he looked in fine touch for his unbeaten 55 against the Rising Pune Supergiant.

Bowlers (Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Siraj, Siddarth Kaul)

It was once again a pacers’ party for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as all three frontline seamers picked up 2 apiece. Rashid was taken for runs, but got his first off the final delivery of his 4-over spell.

However, the bowler who impressed most was Mohammad Siraj. The youngster brought some good pace into the scene and bowled beautiful line and length. Siraj got rid of pinch-hitter Sunil Narine first up, then came back to remove the dangerous Uthappa, who was a serious threat to the Sunrisers total. He greeted Sheldon Jackson with a sharp bouncer which the batsman didn’t expect at all. This man has bowled accurately and has grown in confidence in a span of days. Figures of 2-26 spoke volumes about his capacity in the shortest format of the game.

Siraj’s figures were matched by another brilliant performance from Siddarth Kaul. The Sunrisers Hyderabad have discovered a clever bowler in Kaul, who has a range of variations on offer. Kaul has perfected the knuckle ball, which got him the prized wicket of Gautam Gambhir. He later dismissed Colin de Grandhomme at a stage when the match had already slipped away from the Knight Riders.

The two youngsters have obviously matured under the tutelage of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Out of the 9 games that he’s played, Bhuvi has gone wicket-less in only 1. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is head and shoulders above the rest of the bowlers in the IPL. He now has 20 wickets to his name at a stunning average of 11.60. To put it in perspective, Bhuvi won the Purple Cap last year with 23 wickets. This season however, he’s just 3 wickets away from that figure with at least another 4 matches to play.