Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Ponting said, “He was 85 or 90 per cent fit a couple of days ago. We’d expect that there’d be a little bit more improvement from him today. But he’ll have to do a lot of batting today against fast bowling to make sure that the pain he had last week is not anymore. So, hopefully, he’s fit and ready,”

The former Australian captain also stated that his side are ready for a high scoring clash against SRH, stating “We don’t mind having a shootout tomorrow if it’s a high-scoring game, so be it…We know and expect that they’re going to play the way they’ve played so far in the tournament which has been going hard at the top of the order with the bat, and trying to post a big first innings total. So, we’re happy to try and match them in that. We think we’ve got as good a batting line-up if not better batting line-up than theirs,” said Ponting.

Notably, Sunrisers Hyderabad are coming into this clash after registering a thumping victory against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) dominated primarily by their batters including Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen. In their last encounter, SRH set up a mammoth total of 287 runs in their 20 overs and broke the record for highest score ever in an IPL game. 

Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, had won their last game primarily due to their bowlers restricting Gujarat Titans on a miserly score of 89, before Rishabh Pant and Co. went out to secure a comfortable 6 wicket win.

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Published: 20 Apr 2024, 02:50 PM IST