Batbricks7

Thursday, May 2, 2024, 7:30 PM

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals

Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

HEAD TO HEAD
TotaL         :  18
SRH  Won :  9
RR   Won  :  9

Hyderabad hosted its first game of this season at the end of March when the hosts posted a massive 277 and Mumbai Indians gave them a scare before eventually finishing with 246. The game against CSK in early April saw the visiting side post 165 which SRH chased down in 18.1 overs. In the last game played here, SRH came unstuck chasing 206 as they finished with 171. It has largely been batters vs batters this season and Hyderabad is also a venue that has supported this trend. But there has been some help for the spinners in the recent matches played here, and could bring the likes of Chahal and R Ashwin into play.

Sunrisers Hyderabad who have set a new benchmark for batting in T20 cricket, were looking formidable with their brand of cricket which had earned them five wins in seven games. But successive losses against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings, both by big margins and both while chasing, have rocked their smooth-sailing boat. And they will be hoping to avoid the situation that the Royals ended up in last year.

Rajasthan Royals know that too well, having messed up a good position in the previous season which resulted in them not making the playoffs cut. They had won five out of their first eight games before losing their way in the latter half of the competition in 2023. But they have learnt their lessons and are riding high with eight wins in nine games in 2024, and have a foot in the playoffs door. Their opponents on Thursday are sailing in a similar boat RR found themselves in last season.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

 Bhuvneshwar, despite his lean patch in this IPL, has got a good record against Jos Buttler, having dismissed him six times in 91 deliveries in T20 cricket. Bhuvneshwar has also accounted for Samson three times in the IPL and SRH will be banking on the experienced pacer against the RR top order. T Nararajan is a good option against Riyan Parag as the left-arm seamer has dismissed the batter twice in 15 deliveries.

Injury/Availability: SRH currently do not have any injury concerns

Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Nitish Reddy, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan. [Impact sub: Anmolpreet Singh/Mayank Markande]

Rajasthan Royals

 Although he has dismissed him three times in T20 cricket, RR will be wary of using Chahal against Klaasen as the batter has struck 93 runs at a strike rate of 226.82 off the legspinner. Meanwhile, they could look to target Travis Head with spin, although that would be a gamble considering there will be Abhishek at the other end who is known to take apart the spinners. An over of Sandeep, with his change of pace, could be productive early on

Injury/Availability: No reported fitness concerns in the RR camp.

Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal. [Impact sub: Rovman Powell]