DC vs SRH, IPL 2023: 3 player battles to watch out for
Delhi Capitals (DC) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will face off against each other for the second time within a week in the IPL 2023 season, this time at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
The two teams played a thrilling encounter in Hyderabad, where DC ended up on the winning side by seven runs. This has given David Warner and Co. a golden opportunity to leapfrog SRH on points table and get themselves out of 10th position.
With such a promising squad, the Sunrisers wouldn't even have dreamed of such a first half to their season. They will be keen to get back to winning ways and will want to avenge their defeat against the Capitals.
On that note, let's take a look at the three player battles that could have a massive impact on the outcome of the game:
#3 Harry Brook vs Anrich Nortje
Anrich Nortje is spitting fire 🔥
📸: IPL
#IPL2023 #Cricket #AnrichNortje https://t.co/Lwm2b3qe6K
Apart from his maiden IPL hundred against the Kolkata Knight Riders, SRH's marquee signing Harry Brook has had a wretched season so far. The Sunrisers have tried to use him as an opener to give him the freedom to express himself in the powerplay. But that move hasn't helped him become consistent.
Brook looked comfortable against pace, but he had a torrid time against Delhi's Anrich Nortje in the reverse fixture. The speedster conceded no runs in four balls bowled to Brook and also got the latter dismissed. With runs in powerplay extremely crucial, this could be a captivating match-up.
#2 Aiden Markram vs Axar Patel
Axar Patel won the player of the match for his brilliant all-round performance 👏
📸: IPL
#IPL2023 #SRHvsDC #Cricket https://t.co/jxB7VmCcea
Aiden Markram has been the fulcrum of the Sunrisers' batting in the middle order this season. Naturally, whenever he has done well, the team has done well. While Markam is a good player of spin, he struggled against DC spinner Axar Patel last week and this is a match-up that Delhi want to go their way.
Axar has bowled just three balls to Markram in all T20 cricket, but has already dismissed him twice. It is likely to be a stern test for Markram as negotiating Axar's accuracy on a Delhi pitch that could aid spinners will be tricky.
#1 David Warner vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has picked the most number of wickets in the first over👏
#IPL2023 #SRHvsDC #Cricket https://t.co/vbr1GizEy6
A player battle that would get many excited is between DC skipper David Warner and SRH veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The duo know each other's game really well as they have played together for a number of years at the Sunrisers.
Bhuvneshwar has bowled 41 deliveries to Warner in all T20s and has conceded just 29 runs, dismissing the latter once. Even in the previous face-off last week, Bhuvneshwar didn't give Warner any room to work with and kept him quiet in the powerplay. The DC captain will need to figure out a way to counter Bhuvneshwar's tactics.