IPL 10, Match 29, RCB v SRH – Sunrisers Hyderabad Predicted XI

Sunrisers Hyderabad have had a see-saw season. They have lost three out of their seven games and all losses have come away from home. The defending champions will now take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore, which will be their fourth away game this year.

SRH’s bowling attack, which is hailed as the best in the IPL, failed to defend 56 runs off the last four overs against Rising Pune Supergiant. They missed their experienced bowler Ashish Nehra, who is nursing an injury and is expected to be fit for the game against RCB.

RCB come into this game after an embarrassing 82-run defeat against KKR at Eden gardens on Sunday. They registered the lowest team total in the IPL as they were shot out for 49 within ten overs. The men in red, now, are at the bottom of the points table and are running out of time as they have already played half of their league games and have just 2 wins to their name. This will be a must-win game for the home side for a loss here, will almost end their quest of finishing in the top 4.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have the perfect opportunity to end the familiar theme of losing games away from home. Let’s have a look at the Predicted XI of the defending champions for their 8^th game this season:

Openers (David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan)

Dhawan has got 235 runs in 7 games but his strike rate has been a major concern. He is looking scratchy and has struggled to time the ball which is putting too much pressure on David Warner. Both left-handers added 55 runs in 49 balls in the last game, which is the slowest fifty partnership of this IPL. Warner too struggled to get going in the last game as he mustered to a 40-ball 43. SRH can’t afford to start sluggishly as it puts too much pressure on the middle order. M Chinnaswamy is a high-scoring ground and both openers must ensure a quick start as 200 will be a minimum score if they bat first.

Middle Order (Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh and Moises Henriques)

Williamson has a strike rate of almost 170 in this year’s IPL so far, though he has just appeared twice for the men in orange. His 89 against Daredevils paved the way for a 15-run win at home last week. Williamson has gone about his business very smoothly, despite sitting out for 5 consecutive games. After missing the last game due to illness, Yuvraj is set to play this game against his former franchise. He hit 62 in the season opener of IPL 2017, against RCB too, to set up a 35-run win for SRH. Since then, though, Yuvraj hasn’t hit the kind of runs expected of him. He will look to play another innings of substance.

Henriques has been in great batting form this season. He scored his third half-century against RPS to help his team amass 176 after a relatively sluggish start. The Australian all-rounder hasn’t had a great season with the ball though. He is a better bowler than the numbers of this season suggest and can be handful in the middle overs with his cutters.

Lower Middle Order (Deepak Hooda and Naman Ojha)

Hooda has been used as a floater in the SRH batting order. His main role is to play the big shots and is generally promoted up the order whenever the openers provide a good start. He played a good hand against RPS scoring an unbeaten 19 off 10 balls. Warner doesn’t bowl him much but has used him against Gayle in their encounter earlier this season and Hooda responded by picking the big wicket of the man from Jamaica.

Ojha hasn’t had enough opportunities with the bat but has been splendid behind the stumps. He is an experienced campaigner and is capable of raising his game whenever SRH is in a crisis.

Bowlers (Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Rashid Khan and Siddhart Kaul)

Kumar and Kaul didn’t have a great last game but have performed well this season. Bhuveshwar Kumar is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament so far with 16 wickets to his name. The game against RPS was a rare blip as Bhuvi struggled to hit the yorkers at the back end of the innings. Kaul too was tonked around for runs but he has delivered with those yorkers for the team during the latter end of the innings.

Nehra is expected to play this game after he missed three games back-to-back due to a stiff neck. He is very crucial to SRH’s title defense and will be motivated to perform well as news of his possible inclusion in the Champions Trophy squad is doing the rounds.

Rashid Khan is enjoying his maiden IPL season. An economy rate of under 7 and a haul of 10 wickets in 7 games, is a dream start for this Afghan leg-spinner. He has done well bowling during the powerplay and walks in the XI without much fuss.