IPL 10, Match 37, SRH v KKR: Sunrisers Hyderabad Predicted XI

Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad would fancy seeing themselves in the playoffs and have a go at the final this year as well. The Sunrisers would have gladly taken just 1 point following a washout in Bengaluru, but have done well to get back to winning ways.

As has always been in the context of the IPL, David Warner has been in fine form. An added advantage for the Sunrisers is that his partner in the opening slot Shikhar Dhawan has been amongst the runs as well. The duo put on yet another century stand at the top to set up a total in excess of 200.

Although the Sunrisers Hyderabad will be playing in their own backyard, the side up against them are the second spot holders Kolkata Knight Riders. With the way the tournament has shaped itself so far, the game has all the ingredients to be a mouth-watering clash. Here’s CricTracker’s predicted XI for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as they take on the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.

Openers (David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan)

Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad were on the hunt for their first away win. Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner put their hands up to finally check that box on Friday night in Mohali. A 107-run stand amongst the two powered the SRH to 207 yet again – a replica of the scorecard in the curtain raiser of this edition of the IPL.

Both Dhawan and Warner currently being in the top 5 highest run-getters in this season of the IPL proves their form and consistency. KKR have also done something similar, with Gambhir and Uthappa finding themselves in the top 3.

Skipper Warner is 43 runs behind his KKR counterpart Gautam Gambhir, who currently holds the Orange Cap. He also has a healthy strike rate of 135. Dhawan’s strike rate this season has been hovering around 125, which would be considered a bit on the slower side in T20 parlance.

However, his strength has been hitting the boundaries. With 36 fours so far in the season, Dhawan finds himself behind leader Gambhir who has 49 to his name. The two left-handers have 5 fifties between them, which clearly goes on to show that this is one of the best opening pairs in this edition of the IPL.

Middle order (Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Naman Ojha, Ben Cutting and Deepak Hooda)

The Sunrisers Hyderabad would be slightly worried with Yuvraj’s form at the top of the order. Following his brilliant 62 against RCB in the opening game of this year’s IPL, Yuvi has slumped. A string of failures have seen him get the highest score of 26 in the last 6 games he’s played. The left-hander will have to fire against a KKR side which bats really deep.

New Zealand’s Kane Williamson on the other hand has been simply spectacular. It’s never easy to come into a tournament having played a handful of games and then score consistently. Williamson though has done exactly that. Having played 3 matches so far, the Kiwi has hit 2 fifties and averages a whopping 82.00. He is a vital cog in the wheel who can come in and up the ante.

SRH wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha said he finds it difficult to bat lower down the order, as he is forced to change his game. Ojha hasn’t been promoted up the order so far, and it’s perhaps a good idea to give this man a go. The 33-year-old is a sweet timer of the ball, but he’s had just three opportunities to bat so far. Against KXIP, when SRH were slightly tied up at 50/3, Ojha came in to score a quick-fire 34 to get his side back on track.

To follow Ojha, there are two big hitters of the ball. Both Ben Cutting and Deepak Hooda have built a reputation of smashing some monstrous sixes, which is always useful lower down the order. Australia’s Cutting, primarily being a pacer, can offer 4 overs of tight fast bowling. He has been warming the bench for quite a few games now, but he deserves a chance to play against KKR.

Hooda might not have scored too many runs this season. But what goes unnoticed is that he hasn’t faced too many balls either. His role is to come at the back end of the innings and strike as many boundaries as possible, and that’s what he’ll look to do against the Knight Riders.

Bowlers (Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Siddarth Kaul, Rashid Khan)

It was a pacers’ party in Mohali for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The three fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra and Siddarth Kaul bagged a total of 8 wickets between them. Bhuvi just keeps climbing higher and higher and stands aloof from the rest of the bowlers in this IPL. He already has 18 wickets under his belt this season.

Ashish Nehra went for runs against Punjab in their last meeting, but more importantly he picked up three wickets. The Sunrisers Hyderabad have discovered a wonderful death overs bowler in Punjab’s Siddarth Kaul who bagged 3 as well in Mohali. Kaul has been bowling some consistent line and length throughout this season.

Although Rashid Khan wasn’t so much part of the wicket-fest, he still went on to collect a Man of the Match award. He bowled as many as 14 dot balls in his four overs and ended with figures of 1/16. Rashid is mysterious. Nobody seems to pick him. He came in to bowl at a crucial stage inthe KXIP game when Marsh and Morgan were looking dangerous. After testing 3 overs, Rashid finally removed Morgan in his 4th over.

The match against the Kolkata Knight Riders promises to be a cracker-jack of a contest. The game will see several smaller contests as well. It’s going to be Warner-Dhawan versus Gambhir-Uthappa and Rashid versus Narine. The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium is the place where you’d want to be on Sunday as two of the best sides in this IPL go head to head against each other.