On the hunt for their first win, DC will look to exploit SRH’s weak opening duo

The hunt for the first win of the season continues for Delhi Capitals (DC) when they take on David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday night.

DC’s season so far can be termed as a tale of two halves. Despite posting a competitive total of 188 (5 wickets), the second innings showcased an all-too-familiar collapse as the Mumbai Indians (MI) chased down the target with relative ease, losing just 3 wickets along the way.

On paper, DC possesses a formidable batting lineup with the likes of skipper Rishabh Pant, batter Prithvi Shaw, and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh. However, the lack of an explosive opener and consistency has plagued them so far. With Ruhel Patel and Mandeep Singh failing to impress in the first game, DC will be incentivized to promote Shimron Hetmyer, who scored a fiery 31 off 13 balls (3 sixes and a four), to the top of the order.

On the other hand, SRH suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their opening game of the season, and they will be eager to bounce back. SRH’s batting largely relies on the shoulders of captain Warner and Kane Williamson, who failed to fire in the first game, hence the addition of young gun Abhishek Sharma held the mantle of scoring runs in the middle order.

One of the main areas of concern for SRH is their bowling attack, especially the opening spell. Pacers Thangarasu Natarajan and Romario Shepherd went for runs in the first game, with Natarajan’s economy rate crossing 15 in the powerplay. The onus will be on them to keep the DC batsmanship in check, especially with the likes of Hetmyer, Pant, and Marsh in the lineup.

At the same time, the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam has a reputation for being a high-scoring venue, with scores of 200 or more a common occurrence. This could play into the hands of DC’s batting-heavy line-up, as they would look to capitalize on any weaknesses in the SRH bowling unit.

What to expect

With both teams looking for their first win of the season, we can expect a hard-fought contest with the bowlers from both sides having to work hard for their wickets. The batting, however, is likely to dominate with plenty of boundaries and big hits.

With DC struggling against MI’s bowling might and SRH’s batting failing to deliver against KKR, both units will look for significant improvements this week. With the opener gone wrong for both teams, fans can expect a hard-fought contest with the winner likely to be the team that executes their game plan better.