IPL 7: Sunrisers Hyderabad opt to bowl against Delhi Daredevils

NEW DELHI: Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and chose to bowl against Delhi Daredevils in their IPL match at the Ferozeshah Kotla in New Delhi on Saturday.
Daredevils made three changes to their side with leg-spinner Imran Tahir coming in place of Wayne Parnell while fast bowler Rahul Shukla replaces out of sorts left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.
Test specialist Murali Vijay has also been dropped from the playing XI to make way for Mayank Agarwal.
Delhi are still languishing at the bottom of the table and stare at a must-win situation in every game to salvage their season.
Delhi have never won against this Sunrisers team in three attempts over the past two seasons, the latest loss coming in Dubai a few days earlier when DD bowlers failed to reign in Warner and Finch and took only one wicket before the batsmen fell agonizingly short in the chase to lose by 4 runs.
Delhi skipper Kevin Pietersen is struggling for form after recovering from a finger injury and averages 15.50 with a strike rate below 100.
Having overspent on Dinesh Karthik and over-estimated Quinton de Kock's ability to single-handedly turn games, they have had to fall back on JP Duminy and Kedhar Jadhav, who are usually late middle-order regulars but may now have to firm the strike more given the problems at the top.
The match also marks a return for Dhawan to hometown Delhi, and he will fancy his chances on familiar territory given the remarkable turnaround win engineered by his formidable bowling unit in the last game against Rajasthan Royals.
While Delhi's cricket fans have an opportunity to watch Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Dale Steyn in action, the home team seems resigned to another failed season.
Teams:
Delhi Daredevils: Quinton de Kock, Mayank Agarwal, Kevin Pietersen (captain), Dinesh Karthik (wk), JP Duminy, LR Shukla, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Imran Tahir, Jaydev Unadkat, Rahul Shukla
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Aaron Finch, Lokesh Rahul, Naman Ojha (captain), David Warner, Moises Henriques, Irfan Pathan, Karn Sharma, Dale Steyn, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.