IPL 2018: Delhi Daredevils Stand in Between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Knock-outs

New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad could become the first team to seal a berth in the play-offs of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), if Kane Williamson's troops manage to get the better of Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Thursday.

So far, Hyderabad have enjoyed a stellar campaign, having won 8 out of 10 matches that they have played. Their tally of 8 wins at this stage is their best after the first ten games in their history of the cash-rich league.

Moreover, Hyderabad's eight wins mean that they have already equalled their tally of maximum wins (8) in the league stages of an 8 team IPL season. SRH are also on a winning run of 5 successive games, their best in any season of the IPL. So, if Hyderabad manage to beat Delhi in the match 42 of the ongoing edition, they will mathematically seal qualification with as many as three games to spare.

The reason for SRH's dominance in the league has been their bowling attack and that is something that even skipper Kane Williamson agreed to recently.

The likes of Siddarth Kaul and Rashid Khan have scalped 13 wickets each in 10 matches and are fighting for the purple cap. While star Bangladesh all-rounder has 10 wickets in as many games for SRH. While pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma have scalped 7 wickets each in 6 matches for the former champions.

"We are very fortunate to have the bowlers that we have… also the depth in the bowling. We have had a number of injuries as well but the players who have come in, have stepped up really well. The way the guys have responded under pressure has been outstanding and we will look to continue doing the same in the latter half of the tournament as well," Williamson told CNN-News 18.

And because of the heroics of their bowlers, SRH have incredibly defended all the totals that they have posted this season. Moreover, 4 of the 5 lowest totals defended this season have been by SRH.

srh tot

As for Delhi, they sit at the bottom of the table and go up against the Sunrisers knowing that they will be out of the competition with a loss. Also, DD will be buoyed by the fact that they have won last two games at the venue and would look to repeat their success against SRH.

However, their record against SRH at the Feroz Shah Kotla is far from being promising. They have won just 1 of their 3 matches against the Sunrisers at the Kotla, which came in 2017. As for SRH, they have already beaten Delhi once in the campaign and will look to do the double and enter the knock-outs in style.