IPL 2017: RPS v SRH, Game 24– Match Result Predictions

Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) will be rejuvenated by the fact that they came back to winning ways in their previous encounter against Royal Challengers but there 6 days break in between might work in their favour or might go against them. Given their impressive performance against RCB, they would definitely come all guns blazing tomorrow against a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad who again came back to winning ways with back to back victories.

Meanwhile RPS captain Steve Smith enjoyed a small vacation in Dubai during these 6 days where he was seen enjoying some delicious Acai bowls. Despite some world class player in their ranks, RPS has failed to seize the opportunity at crucial junctures of the game which has left them with only a couple of victories from their 5 encounters.

Youngster Rahul Tripathi has looked in good touch throughout the tournament so far and has solved the problem of the opening slot. Ajinkya Rahane played a terrific knock in the opening encounter but in the following matches he had pretty ordinary returns. The form of Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be a worry for Steve Smith and Co but the Aussie batsman made it pretty clear that Dhoni is a great player and it’s just a matter of time before he gets back into his groove.

The defending champions, on the other hand, has looked an organised unit apart from the two matches against Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians who made full use of their complacency. After winning two they lost a couple but again came back to winning ways with victories against Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Daredevils.

Their bowling line-up has looks a class apart with Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the pack. He is sitting pretty with 15 wickets in the tournament so far and is followed by the teenage sensation from Afghanistan Rashid Khan. The leggie has looked exceptional and has bowled some amazing deliveries which have bamboozled opposition batsmen on a consistent basis. So with nearly 20 hours to go for the 24th match of the tournament to commence let us have a look at the match prediction for the first match of tomorrow’s double header.

Here is what Crictracker predicts for the game:                   

Scenario 1: SRH will win the toss

Toss Prediction: SRH choose to bowl

First innings prediction: 145-155

2nd innings Prediction: SRH will win by 5 wickets (with an over to spare)

Scenario 2: RPS will win the toss

Toss Prediction: RPS choose to bowl

First innings Prediction: 170-175

2nd innings Prediction: SRH will win by 14 runs

Head to Head Record

Overall: Total Matches –2, SRH Won – 1, RPS Won – 2

Both teams have only played twice against each other with both sharing the honours in the previous edition but given by the present form, SRH looks a far more dominant side than RPS and is expected to be the eventual winner of tomorrow’s encounter. After coming back to form, SRH will be raring to go against RPS who are positioned in the bottom half of the points table.

Team Combination

Rising Pune Supergiant

South African Test skipper Faf du Plessis is yet to appear in a single match in this edition so far which is baffling to say the least. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir has looked in good rhythm but has gone for some stick in the last couple of matches. He has been a wicket-taker for Smith and he will look to chip away with the crucial wickets.

They have been lacking in both batting and the bowling department but given their performance in the previous encounter, they are unlikely to tinker with their team combination. Personally, I also want MS Dhoni to bat up the order so that he can get enough time to get used to the conditions and unleash in the later half of the innings

Predicted XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Steve Smith, MS Dhoni, Ben Stokes, Manoj Tiwary, Dan Christian, Rahul Chahar, Imran Tahir, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur

Sunrisers Hyderabad

After back to back victories, SRH is expected to retain the same XI from the previous match. Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi can make a comeback in place of Henriques. After making his debut against Kings XI Punjab, Nabi was again dropped from the previous encounter in favour of Henriques.

On the other hand, the inclusion of Kane Williamson in the previous match worked wonders for SRH as the stylish batsman smashed a sensational 89 of only 51 deliveries, an innings constructed with 6 fours and 5 sixes. He will retain his place at least for the next couple more matches.

Predicted XI: David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Mohammad Nabi, Bipul Sharma, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul

Both teams have won one each in the two encounters played between the two sides but given the current form of Sunrisers Hyderabad, the defending champions are the clear favourites to overhaul Pune.

Do let us know your predictions in the comment section below.