IPL 2026, SRH vs DC Preview: Sunrisers Hyderabad beset by middle-order woes against Delhi Capitals

HYDERABAD: Buoyed by back-to-back victories, Sunrisers Hyderabad will bank on home conditions to make it a hattrick of wins when they host Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.

The 2016 champions, placed fourth in the points table with six points, are high on confidence after their 10-run win over Chennai Super Kings while defending 194/9 over the weekend. The hosts were served well by the combined bowling performances of Eshan Malinga, Nitish Reddy, Sakib Hussain and Shivang Kumar.

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While Malinga’s execution in crunch situations was spot on, Nitish’s spell too will give the team management a lot of confidence. Though Praful Hinge, who had a sensational debut, had an off day, he can take a lot of confidence from the final he bowled — CSK needed 18 but managed just seven.

Meanwhile, the SRH batting unit has to do the heavy lifting. Openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head are adhering to the high-risk, high-reward template, but the returns are not consistent.

This leaves Heinrich Klaasen, Orange Cap holder with 283 runs, curbing his natural style of aggressive batting. Abhishek raced to his fastest IPL half-century in 15 balls against CSK and his partner Head is due for a big knock. Ishan Kishan has also blown hot and cold. Middle-order batsmen Aniket Verma and Salil Arora need to come to the party to maximise the death overs.

Meanwhile, the Capitals began well with two wins but lost two on the trot to be fifth in the table with six points. They returned to winning ways by chasing down 176 in the previous outing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Despite being reduced to 18/3, KL Rahul (57) and Tristan Stubbs (60*) revived the innings before David Miller (20*) completed the chase with a ball to spare. It was also redemption for Miller, whose brain fade resulted in his team’s one-run loss to Gujarat Titans earlier. Presented a second chance, Miller hit Romario Shepherd for 6, 6, 4 to steer his side home against RCB.