Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad - IPL 2022 Match 50: Who Will Win?

Delhi Capitals Team Preview

The Delhi Capitals are currently middle of the points table, having won four out of their nine games. While eight points puts them in a precarious position, they have a fantastic (and at the time of writing, the best) Net Run Rate of +0.587. Is it a little too late for the Capitals to make it to the Play-Offs? With five matches remaining for the Capitals, they would have to win at least three to give them somewhat of a chance. If they manage to win four matches and get to 16 points, this will certainly give the squad a bit of breathing room, especially with such a strong NRR score. However, looking back at their recent games, this is a tall order. The Lucknow Super Giants snatched the victory from them by just six runs. After posting a relatively challenging total of 195, the Capitals did a fantastic job to chase it down but fell heartbreakingly close to the finishing line.

Only three wickets from the Super Giants were taken, and they were all from Indian international cricketer Shardul Thakur. His first wicket was of Quinton de Kock in the fourth over. This was well-needed and helped to dissemble a dangerous looking opening partnership. Deepak Hooda was the next to be dismissed, followed by KL Rahul. The most economical bowler was Axar Patel after conceding 25 runs in his four overs spell (6.25). Mustafizur Rahman (0/37) and Kuldeep Yadav (0/29) were the only other bowlers to end with an economy under 10. Our IPL prediction for the match today for the top bowler would have to be Kuldeep Yadav. He has grabbed 17 wickets and has one of the best bowling figures of the tournament at 4/14. Lalit Yadav was the most expensive bowler in his single over spell, conceding 16 runs.

The opening partnership for the Capitals didn’t get off the ground, with a quick dismissal of Prithvi Shaw (5 off 7 balls). David Warner was the next casualty scoring just three runs from four balls. Despite a night to forget, Warner has amassed 264 runs in the tournament to date, with an average strike rate of 156.21. If you are making a match prediction today for top batsman, Warner could be a good choice.

The middle order showed some potential with Mitchell Marsh (37 off 20) and skipper Rishabh Pant (44 off 30), however whatever momentum the Capitals gained, became quickly undone by Super Giants Moshin Khan and Ravi Bishnoi. Khan grabbed four wickets from Warner, Pant, Rovman Powell (35 off 21), and Shardul Thakur (1 off 2).

Sunrisers Hyderabad Team Preview

The fourth place Sunrisers Hyderabad are enjoying 10 points and a Net Run Rate of +0.471. They have won five matches out of nine and are in a good position to make the Play-Offs. With five matches remaining, they will need at least three to try and secure one of the four spots. Compared the Royal Challengers Bangalore who also have 10 points, the Sunrisers are in a much stronger position due to their NRR, so will be mindful to keep this as high as possible.

The Sunrisers got off to a strong start with Abhishek Sharma scoring 39 runs off 24 balls. Sharma is a consistent batter, echoed by his stats in the IPL 2022 so far. The 21-year-old has currently scored 324 runs this season which puts him in joint third with Shreyas Iyer, behind Jos Buttler on 588 and KL Rahul on 451. Sharma could be a good choice for the top batsman market if you are IPL betting for the match today. If Sharma continues with his fantastic batting spells, it could be enough to turn the Sunrisers losing streak around.

The second wicket to fall was of Rahul Tripathi, who was out for a duck. This is Tripathi’s second of the season. Aiden Markram was the next to be dismissed, finishing on 17 off 10. Markram has the second best batting average stats for this IPL tournament at 87.66, a fraction lower of Chennai Super Kings Devon Conway’s average of 88.0.

Kane Williamson, the captain of the Sunrisers, finished with 47 off 37. However, it was Nicholas Pooran to reach the highest score. He had a fantastic stretch; however the task was too great to get the Sunrisers over the winning line. Pooran scored over a half century (64) off 33 balls.

T. Natarajan was the only bowler able to pick up wickets and he finished with a score of 2/42. These two wickets allowed Natarajan to jump into joint second place in the IPL 2022 leader board for most wickets at 17. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the most economical bowler at 5.5 (0/22), and Marco Jansen was the only other player to have an economy score lower than 10 (0/38). Although we’ve seen strong bowling performances from Umran Malik in the past (in fact, Malik holds the best bowling figure of the IPL so far at 5/25), he didn’t have a remarkable night and finished with 0/48.

It is likely that Washington Sundar will miss the next match due to a webbing injury he sustained on his hand. This comes as a blow, as this is a repeat of his previous injury that took him out of action for a week earlier in the tournament. Jagadeesha Suchith is a strong candidate for his replacement.

IPL prediction

Toss Prediction

Looking back over the decisions both captains have made so far in the tournament only point to one choice. Neither captain has elected to bat first, so we have some confidence that this match will be no different. As this is an evening match, the threat of dew will be present. Therefore our toss prediction won’t change, and we think that the lucky captain to win the toss will choose to field first.

Pitch Conditions

The wicket at Brabourne Stadium typically is a balanced pitch, offering something to both the batsmen and the bowlers. The average first innings score is 174.1, while the average first innings winning score is over 25 runs higher at 202.8.

The Delhi Capitals have played at Brabourne Stadium three times, while the Sunrisers Hyderabad have played there twice. The Capitals’ highest score in the tournament to date was played at this wicket in which they reached 215 against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Interestingly, their lowest was also at Brabourne against the Punjab Kings in which they scored 119. On average, their score at this wicket for the current IPL season is 171. For the Sunrisers, their highest score on this wicket was 176 (and is their third highest in the tournament to date) while their lowest score was an aberration at 72. This puts their average at this wicket at 124.

Although the strong sun has subsided, the weather forecast for Thursday expects the ‘real-feel’ temperature to still be 43C. Additionally, the high humidity at 76% increases the threat of dew in the second innings.