SDS vs EDR Match Prediction DPL 2025 1st T20: Match Preview, Pitch Report and Who will win Today’s Match?

SDS vs EDR Match Preview

The new season of the Delhi Premier League will kick-off this Saturday, August 2 with the opening match that will be a rematch of last season's final match between the South Delhi Superstarz and the East Delhi Riders.

The East Delhi Riders won the DPL 2024 season beating the South Delhi Superstarz team in the final match by 3 runs to lift the inaugural season trophy. The rivalry resumes this season as both teams feature in the opening match of the new season with the East Delhi Riders putting their trophy on the line.

The East Delhi Riders finished at the top of the points table last season where they won 7 out of 10 matches and lost only one with 2 matches abandoned. They beat North Delhi Strikers in the semi-final and the South Delhi Superstarz in the final to lift the Trophy and end the campaign which was a very successful season for the Himmat Singh led team.

They had several key performers that include captain Himmat Singh who scored 381 runs while Anuj Rawat was the other batter to score over 300 runs. Simarjeet Singh was the top wicket-taker with 18 wickets while Harsh Tyagi and Mayank Rawat picked 16 and 11 wickets.

As for the South Delhi Superstarz, they finished the league phase in 2nd place in the points table with 6 wins and 3 losses. They beat the Purani Delhi team in the semi-final but lost the final match by just 3 runs.

For them, Priyansh Arya lit-up the league with 608 runs in 10 innings, batting with a strike rate of 198.69 and he scored two centuries. He was well supported by the team’s captain Ayush Badoni, who also scored 522 runs in 9 innings. With the ball, Digvesh Rathi was the top wicket-taker with 14 scalps to his name while Kuldip Yadav took 11 wickets.

SDS vs EDR Recent Form

Both the teams were undoubtedly the two nets teams in the Delhi Premier League 2024 season as they finished in top 2. However, the East Delhi Riders have a much better form than the South Delhi Superstarz who struggled in the backend of the season. In their last five matches, the East Delhi team has won 4 matches including the semi-final and final match. As for the South Delhi team, they have won only 2 in their last five matches and lost three including the final match.

SDS vs EDR Head-to-Head in T20s

There has been previously two matches played between the East Delhi and the South Delhi team in the Delhi Premier League and it is the East Delhi who have come out victorious in both the occasions. They won by 7 wickets during the league match between the two teams and won the final match by 3 runs to lift the Trophy in the inaugural Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2024 season.

Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi Pitch Report

The Arun Jaitley Stadium pitch in Delhi is a batting paradise in T20 cricket, with its dry, hard surface and short boundaries favoring aggressive stroke play and high scores, often exceeding 190 or even 200 in recent IPL matches. Fast bowlers may find early seam movement, while spinners get some grip in the middle overs, but the pitch remains batsman-friendly. Dew often makes chasing easier in night games, influencing toss decisions to bowl first. 

SDS vs EDR Predicted Playing XI

South Delhi: Tejaswi Dahiya, Ayush Badoni (C), Kunwar Bidhuri, Sarthak Roy, Vision Panchal, Anmol Sharma, Saksham Gahlot, Yatish Singh, Sumit Mathur, Digvesh Rathi, Himanshu Chauhan.

East Delhi: Anuj Rawat (C), Sujal Singh, Arpit Rana, Salil Malhotra, Kunal Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Hardik Sharma, Kavya Gupta, Yuvraj Rathi, Navdeep Saini, Akhil Chaudhary.

SDS vs EDR Top Performers

South Delhi Top Batter: Ayush Badoni

The South Delhi Superstarz captain Ayush Badoni had a great Delhi Premier League campaign last year taking his team to the final match. He scored 522 runs and is back once again with the team for the new season. Badoni will be leading the team once again and will be hoping to contribute to his team's success.

South Delhi Top Bowler: Digvesh Rathi

South Delhi’s Digvesh Rathi impressed the Lucknow Super Giants with his performance last season. He had a great debut campaign in the IPL 2025 as he took 14 wickets in 13 matches. He is now coming to this match having gained experience of playing the top names of the game.

East Delhi Top Batter: Anuj Rawat 

The East Delhi Riders meanwhile will be banking on their new captain and wicketkeeper-batter Anuj Rawat. Anuj is rated highly by the domestic level coaches but he is yet to show his real quality. The Delhi Premier League could just be the platform he needs right now. The last time he played any sort of T20 cricket was the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2024 and he did fairly well.

East Delhi Top Bowler: Navdeep Saini 

Meanwhile, East Delhi will be banking on the India international pacer Navdeep Saini’s experience. The tall pacer has been included in the team and will definitely be the team's most important bowler.

SDS vs EDR Today Match Prediction 

The opening match of the Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2025 will be the rematch of last year's final match between the South Delhi Superstarz and the East Delhi Riders, where the latter won the match to lift the Trophy.

The new season kicks-off with the blockbuster match and fans will be hoping for some great T20 cricket action. The East Delhi side have won both the head-to-head matches against the South Delhi team, but this time, the latter is considered the pre-match favourite to win.

Both the teams have gone through significant changes in the auction and it seems that the East Delhi team have suffered the most. As for South Delhi, they have a great mix of batters and bowlers in the team. Ayush Badoni and Digvesh with their IPL experience will be key players. So back the South Delhi Superstarz to win this match.