After it took Hyderabad four matches to get their first win in the Indian T20 League 2021 campaign, David Warner and Co. will be looking to extend their form against a tricky opponent in Delhi on Sunday, April 25, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Both the teams come to the fixture at the back of a win. While Hyderabad rode on Warner and Jonny Bairstow's brilliant opening stand to chase down 121 runs against Punjab, Delhi saw Amit Mishra's brilliance limiting defending champions Mumbai to 137 runs before Shikhar Dhawan and Steven Smith helped to keep the chase comfortable.
Though the orange army has dominated the Hyderabad vs Delhi head-to-head record over the years, their encounters have been close of late making it hard to choose a favourite. In their last six meetings, Hyderabad and Delhi have both won six matches each.
Hyderabad vs Delhi Head-to-Head |
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Hyderabad |
Metrics |
Delhi |
18 |
Matches |
18 |
11 |
Wins |
7 |
61.11% |
Win Percentage |
38.89% |
While Hyderabad could take encouragement from their superior head-to-head record, Delhi would be wary of their opponent's dismal record at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Record at Chepauk |
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Hyderabad |
Metrics |
Delhi |
7 |
Matches |
9 |
1 |
Wins |
3 |
14.28% |
Win Percentage |
33.33% |
With the slow, turning Chepauk track seeing the best of teams struggling on it, the toss has played a huge role, and Sunday shouldn't be different. And given Hyderabad's brilliant record while batting first, Delhi wouldn't want their opponent to get that privilege.
In their last five matches while batting first, Hyderabad have averaged a whopping 180.8, an average that has come down to 153.2 when Delhi batted first. Hence, both teams will look to bat first after winning the toss.
Coin Toss and H2H last five matches |
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Hyderabad |
Metrics |
Delhi |
1 |
Tosses Won |
4 |
2 |
Matches Won |
3 |
40% |
Win Percentage |
60% |
Hyderabad's biggest hope in this fixture will again be David Warner, who averages 40.18 against Delhi and has tallied 442 runs when playing them. For Delhi, however, they will look towards Ajinkya Rahane to get things going against Hyderabad, with the middle-order batsman having 397 runs and four fifties against Hyderabad.
Sandeep Sharma will look to be Hyderabad's wrecker-in-chief against Delhi. The pacer has picked 18 wickets in 14 matches against them at a strike rate of 17.67. For Delhi, express bowler Kagiso Rabada will be lethal given his past record of scalping 11 wickets in six matches against Hyderabad.
Featured Picture: AFP/ Noah Seelam