Fizz’s Sunrisers look to firm up playoff spot

When: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Daredevils, May 12, 2016, Thursday, 8:30 PM BST

Where: Rajiv Gandhi International stadium, Hyderabad

What to expect: With four wins in their last five games, Hyderabad sit at the summit with 14 points and a healthy run-rate. A win today will confirm their place in the knockout stage. Mustafizur was wicket-less in the last game, and will be looking to get back among the wickets today.

An acrobatic Mustafizur Rahman tries to stop the ball off his bowling. File Photo: BCCI

With Australian opener David Warner at the helm, Sunrisers Hyderabad have defied all odds with their four-pronged pace attack, and managed to climb to the top of the points table despite a precarious start to their campaign.

As if they were playing on abrasive Australian surfaces, SRH have preferred an all-pace attack on most occasions, and it has worked wonders for them. Ashish Nehra, Barinder Sran, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Mustafizur Rahman have knitted together a bowling partnership that has been difficult to tackle, reports Sportskeeda.com

Sunrisers swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has taken 14 wickets from 10 games while the latest bowling sensation from Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman has 13 and his average of 17.61 is the best among the top-ten wicket-takers of the ongoing IPL.

Read: Sussex want Bangladesh star Mustafizur Rahman to play

The 37-year-old Ashish Nehra took 8 wickets from 6 games even after suffering a groin injury while Barinder Sran, the young Indian left-armer contributed to his team’s cause with 9 wickets from 8 games. On top of that, Moises Henriques has taken seven wickets in the ten matches he played.

Sunrisers Hyderabad is the only side that has opted to bat and defended a total in this year’s IPL, and they have bowlers who can bowl equally well with the new cherry as well as the old. Of all the wickets taken by the SRH bowlers, only 3 wickets have been taken by players other than Fizz, Bhuvi, Nehra, Bran and Henriques.

Also read: Mustafizur and Bhuvneshwar lift Hyderabad

Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad have yet to play each other this IPL, and it will be a test of Delhi’s batters against Hyderabad’s Fizz-pronged attack.

Will Hyderabad be able to stop the likes of Quinton de Kock, Sanju Samson, Chris Morris and Carlos Brathwaite from teeing off?

Or will Delhi buckle under the pace battery of Hyderabad?

Only time will tell…

Bangladeshi cricketer Mustafizur Rahman delivers a ball. File Photo: AFP