IPL 10, Match 6, SRH v GL, Preview: SRH look to extend winning run against struggling Gujarat Lions

The Sunrisers Hyderabad are all set to play their second home game of the season as they take on the Gujarat Lions at Hyderabad. The double header for the super Sunday is all set to get underway and the defending champions are keen to extend their winning run. The Sunrisers had put up a clinical all-round show in the first match of the tournament.

They completely outplayed the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the match and registered their first win of the season. On the contrary, the Gujarat Lions had a disappointing start to their season as they succumbed meekly to the might of the Kolkata Knight Riders in their first home match of the season. Now, they will be playing at an away venue and hope to turn their fortunes upside down in the fixture.

The concerns for the Lions remain the same. They have a very inexperienced bowling lineup that looks absolutely ordinary on the paper. In fact, when they played against the Knight Riders, they performed worse than what was being expected. On the other hand, the Sunrisers Hyderabad look settled in their combinations and will look to extend their winning run against the struggling Gujarat Lions.

Toss: SRH won the toss & elected to bowl

Quotes from the toss:

Suresh Raina: ‘We would have bowled first as well. The pitch looks good and we will look to post a good score on the board. Two changes for us. Manpreet Gony and Shadab Jakati miss out, Tejas Baroka, the leg-spinner and Basil Thampi, the Kerala pacer, will make their IPL debuts.

David Warner: We will bowl first. We are playing second time in two days on this match, it might get better under lights. Confident about our abilities, we need to go out and execute our skills. No changes in our playing XI.

Focus will be on

Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik has been in a terrific form in the recent times. He was phenomenal for his domestic sides and had been an influential part of Tamil Nadu this season. Coming into the tournament, he was in red hot form and translated the same domestic form in the IPL as well. He hit a brilliant 47 off just 24 balls laced with some innovative boundaries. Clearly, he will be a key player in the middle order of the Gujarat Lions in the match.

Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan had a very impressive debut for the Sunrisers Hyderabad when he picked up two wickets in the first match against the RCB. Rashid had been in a stunning form with the ball for the Afghanistan team and it is this very fact that saw him drafted straight in the playing eleven for the team of SRH. In the recently concluded series against Ireland, he was in magical form as he returned with figures of 5/3 in one of the matches. With Mustafizur still not available for selection, Rashid becomes an automatic starter for the match.

Praveen Kumar

Gujarat Lions had an absolutely forgettable time in the bowling department against the Knight Riders. They lost by 10 wickets and reflected at how badly they had bowled on the day. One bowler who bowled well and did not get the hammering was Praveen Kumar. Praveen bowled with the new ball first up and gave just 13 runs in the two overs that he bowled. He has the record for bowling the most number of maidens in the history of the IPL and that surely makes him a player to watch out for.

Team Combination – Gujarat Lions

The Gujarat Lions stunned everyone when they fielded they fielded all their four overseas batsmen in the lineup. Jason Roy, Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Dwayne Smith are all established batsmen at the top order. However, all of them specialise in one trait – opening the batting. It will be a big headache for them to get the line up fixed for the match.

The middle order batsmen Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik have been doing a great job for their role and responsibility assigned to them. The bowling remains a concern for them as the Indian contingent lacks the firepower that is needed to win the matches. If they rope in someone like James Faulkner, they will have to compromise on their overseas batsmen. Drafting in someone like Nathu Singh in place of Manpreet Gony might just help their cause in the match.

Team Combination – Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Sunrisers Hyderabad had a near perfect game in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Their batting looked absolutely magnificent and their bowling was up to the mark as well. It was an overall team performance that saw them thump a side as good as RCB. In the batting, David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan have been the settled openers for the team. With the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Moises Henriques in the middle order, they have some serious stability on the cards.

Ben Cutting has proved to be the powerful finisher for them and his fielding antics have been an added benefit for them. In the bowling department, they arguably have the strongest bowling lineup. Indian pacers like Ashish Nehra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar give some serious experience at hands for the Sunrisers. Barinder Sran adds to the bowling guile and the new found sensation in Rashid Khan has only strengthened their lineup.

Teams:

Gujarat Lions (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina(c), Aaron Finch, Dinesh Karthik(w), Dwayne Smith, Praveen Kumar, Basil Thampi, Tejas Baroka, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shivil Koushik

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha(w), Ben Cutting, Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Ashish Nehra

StatAttack

12 – Number of times side chasing has won the match in 16 occasions at Hyderabad.

7 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowls with an economy lesser than 7 when he bowls in the powerplay.

730 – Number of runs David Warner has scored at the venue in Hyderabad at an average close to 60.