IPL 10, Match 24, RPS v SRH Preview: Struggling Supergiant up against rejuvenated Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Sunrisers Hyderabad got back to winning way after they registered a clinical win over the Delhi Daredevils at Hyderabad. With the win, they continued their merry run at their home ground. It was their fourth win of the season and all of them at the home venue. However, when they meet the Rising Pune Supergiant in their next encounter, it will be an away game for them.

Despite the fact that they will be playing RPS at Pune, the SRH side will still back themselves to come good in the match. The Supergiant have had a terrible time at their home venue until now and have registered just one win at the MCA Stadium at Pune. Moreover, the team has largely struggled to get their combinations right in the last few games and that sees them in the bottom half of the points table.

Talking about the most recent form, SRH registered a thumping win in their last match. But they had lost the couple of games that they had played prior to that game. The Rising Pune Supergiant also had similar fortunes in their previous three encounters. A win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore was preceded by two defeats in the season. Both teams will come into the match riding on winning momentum and hence would like to carry on with the same after the game.

Toss: Rising Pune Supergiant won the toss and opted to field

David Warner: We probably would have bowled as well. Looks a good wicket, and should stay the same. For us, we have three games in a row, hopefully, we can get started with a win. Yuvi is ill today and we’ve got in Bipul Sharma.

Steve Smith: We’re going to have a bowl. It was nice to unwind for a little while, actually popped out to Dubai for a couple of days. We now have five games in a close span. Sundar Washington comes in for his first game in IPL, in place of Rahul Chahar.

Focus will be on

MS Dhoni

Former skipper MS Dhoni will be in the limelight coming in to the game. Over the last few days, he has seen a lot of people criticizing his place in the lineup. He showed glimpses of his mettle in the previous game though. He got a decent start to his innings and looked solid for his 28 runs. Also, he hit a huge six off the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal that summed up the kind of hitting he is capable of. With the gloves, he was very impressive on the day as well. He inflicted a quick stumping to get rid of AB de Villiers in the match.

Rashid Khan

Young leg spinner Rashid Khan has been the find of the season thus far. However, the last two games have seen him endure a massive slump in his form. He has failed to contain the run flow. In the previous game, he was taken away for heavy runs and he went wicketless for the first time in the tournament. Prior to that, in the game against the Kings XI Punjab, he had picked up a couple of wickets but had a heavy toll imposed on him. Rashid had conceded in excess of 40 runs in the match. Hence, it will be worth watching what the youngster comes up with in this particular game.

Ajinkya Rahane

RPS opener Ajinkya Rahane had a phenomenal start to the season. He had managed to score a quick fifty against the Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener for the team. Since then, a string of low scores has beckoned the experienced Indian batsman. Rahane has failed to live up to his name and reputation as an IPL veteran. Despite this, he continues to stay at the top order for the team. The team will be hoping for Rahane to click in the crucial game for the Supergiant.

Team Combination- Rising Pune Supergiant

The Supergiant have possibly found a very settled combination for their upcoming matches this season. The last game for them was a near perfect one for them with all players chipping in with crucial contributions. Rahul Tripathi has looked very good with the bat at the top order with Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane is due for a big score and expect that coming sometime soon. The middle order has got runs under their belt with the likes of Steve Smith, Manoj Tiwary, MS Dhoni and Ben Stokes all getting starts in one or more matches this season.

Indian pace duo of Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat proved to be a wicket taking deal for RPS in the previous match. Daniel Christian adds stability to the line up with his all-round abilities. The spin department boasts of Imran Tahir who has looked a shade off color in the previous couple of games but has been impressive nonetheless on the bigger picture.

Team Combination – Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Sunrisers Hyderabad have had a decent lineup in their last game. However, they are known to be playing around with their squad and giving chances to as many players as possible on the roster. In the last game, they fielded Kane Williamson in the playing eleven and that proved to be a very good deal for them. Williamson hit a classy 89 and hence it will only be unfair on him to get dropped after that game.

Mohammad Nabi might walk into the lineup for this fixture. Moises Henriques could be the one missing on the chance. Siddharth Kaul and Mohammad Siraj have done a good job in the previous game and got wickets to their names on the day. The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan look ominous as spearheads of the bowling attack. It is the fragile middle order that needs to step up and show some solidity.

Playing XI:

Rising Pune Supergiant: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Steven Smith(c), MS Dhoni(w), Ben Stokes, Daniel Christian, Manoj Tiwary, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir, Jaydev Unadkat

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha(w), Rashid Khan, Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Siddarth Kaul

StatAttack

2 – Number of times the two teams have faced off against one another in the tournament history. Both teams have won one match each.

34 – David Warner has 34 fifties to his name – the most fifties in IPL history. Ajinkya Rahane leads the list from RPS camp with 24 fifties to his name.

143 – Number of sixes hit by David Warner in IPL. This is the 6th most sixes hit by a player in the tournament history. Yuvraj Singh has 138 sixes to his name and is 9th on the list.