Hyderabad and Delhi will face each other in the final game at Chennai in Indian T20 League 2021. Delhi have won three matches out of four, while Hyderabad ended their losing streak after defeating Punjab in the previous game.
Match Timings: April 25, 7:30 PM IST
Team Preview
The most challenging leg of the season is going to end as Chennai will host its final match between Hyderabad and Delhi. Hyderabad have played four matches at this ground and Delhi played just one. Both sides are coming off a convincing victory in their previous game.
Hyderabad finally ended their losing streak in Chennai and they chased down the target with ease, thanks to their bowlers who restricted Punjab to a modest total of 120. Jonny Bairstow showed his calibre to bat out throughout the innings and charged Hyderabad to their first victory of the season. They made few changes to the squad and the best part is, Kane Williamson is back in the squad. Khaleel bagged three and Abhishek Sharma looked better who picked two for 24. Rashid Khan and Bhuvi are doing their job as usual.
Hyderabad have that spark to extend this winning run. Consistency is key in this tournament. Unfortunately, they were chasing in each game at Chennai and it’s the most difficult task for any side here. Before entering into Delhi leg, they would look to end the Chennai campaign on a winning note. Any change in the side is unlikely to happen. Hyderabad are slightly favourites for this game.
Meanwhile, Delhi is going through a good phase under Ponting. After an impressive performance in the last two seasons, they made a good start to the season. After winning three out of four, they take the third spot in the points table. In the previous game, the bowling unit was on point, especially Amit Mishra who picked a 4-wicket haul. Steve Smith and Dhawan’s approach in the chase was delightful to watch. Delhi has the batsmen for every surface and they easily adapted to Chennai.
Dhawan is currently the orange cap holder with 231 runs in 4 innings and his form will play a vital role for Delhi. Top-order is in good touch and middle-order also showed good intent in death-overs, Lalit Yadav was promoted and he looked better with Hetmyer. Axar Patel is back in the squad and management can replace him with Ashwin. Changes are unexpected as Delhi will go ahead with the same playing XI. Both sides last met each other in the second qualifier game of last season and Delhi beat Hyderabad to seal the maiden berth in the final.
Pitch Report
Chennai’s track is a challenging surface for batting and batsmen require a sensible approach here. Chasing is a tricky call when the score is above 140. It’s only chasable if we see dew in 2nd innings. Captain can even surprise with opting to bowl because of the extra dew.
Possible XI
Hyderabad
David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson, Virat Singh, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul
Delhi
Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Steven Smith, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Lalit Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan
Key Players
Hyderabad
Jonny Bairstow
173 runs in 4 innings, top-form in Chennai
Rashid Khan
Most economical bowler of the season, 5 wickets so far
Delhi
Shikhar Dhawan
Orange cap holder, 231 runs in 4 innings at an avg of 57.75
Amit Mishra
Dangerous bowler on slow-tracks, bagged 4 in last game for 24
