IPL 2023: DC vs SRH | Focus on batting as Delhi eyes a double against Hyderabad
The Hindu
Indian Premier League 2023: Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in New Delhi on April 29
With back-to-back wins giving them some momentum, Delhi Capitals will hope their batters complement the bowling unit as they eye a season double against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a battle of IPL laggards in New Delhi on April 29.
The two teams are coming into the match following DC's nail-biting seven-run win on Monday and SRH will be eager to return the favour and snap their three-match losing streak.
Skipper David Warner marshalled his troops well against his former team the other day, using the spin of Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav to strangle the chase with seamer Mukesh Kumar holding his own in the final over while defending 12 runs.
While Ishant Sharma and Anrich Nortje too bowled well, the spin duo of Axar and Kuldeep gave away just 43 and snapped three wickets in the eight overs between them in the middle overs.
However, the batting let them down with Manish Pandey and Axar Patel managing to lift Capitals to 128 for five from 62 for five.
While skipper David Warner has done the heavy lifting on most occasions, his innings lacked the usual finesse, as he faced the most number of dot balls in the powerplay this IPL.
The fact that Delhi have struggled to get a steady opener at the other end has only extended his worry.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.