IPL 2018: Qualifier 1, SRH vs CSK, Preview- Sunrisers’ venture to vanquish CSK into ultimate showdown

The hullabaloo, surrounding the probable qualifiers, was finally silenced when the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) surpassed 100 versus the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) yesterday night. The top four teams have ‘Q’ etched beside their names and four matches from hereon will take place, the first of which is scheduled to take place between the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and MS Dhoni’s men.

The Qualifier 1 between the top two teams of the round-robin stage will be staged at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and it’s expected to be nothing less than a cracker-jack. The Super Kings have had the upper hand over the Sunrisers having won both the matches in Hyderabad and Pune respectively. Both teams have strained a tad off late.

SRH’s form has been a matter of concern and they need to buckle up in order to register their maiden victory against the Yellow Army and book a place in the Final. CSK stumbled in the second leg of the tournament but managed to comprehensively win a couple of their last three matches. The wins are likely to keep them in good stead as they take the field in the IPL playoffs for the ninth year.

Team Combination

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Despite their loss against KKR, the Sunrisers aren’t likely to tinker with the eleven. Shreevats Goswami won’t be replaced following his impressive performances and he will open with Shikhar Dhawan. Kane Williamson needs to maintain his rich vein of form. Manish Pandey picked up form in the last two matches and that is a delightful news for the team as well as for the supporters.

Yusuf Pathan, Carlos Braithwaite and Shakib Al Hasan also might be required in the crunch contest. The bowling was a tad disappointing in their last three outings of the last round having leaked runs at an alarming rate. The franchise will look up to Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan to shoulder a chunk of the mantle. Shakib, Carlos, Sandeep Sharma and Siddarth Kaul, have to deliver as well

Predicted XI

Shreevats Goswami (wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson (capt), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Carlos Braithwaite, Sandeep Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul

Chennai Super Kings

CSK may swap Faf du Plessis with Shane Watson. Apart from that, the franchise isn’t expected to make any change. Ambati Rayudu and Watson are the openers followed by Suresh Raina. Dhoni is likely to promote himself up the order to number four from the last contest. Sam Billings and Dwayne Bravo are their overseas batsmen. Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar and Harbhajan lend depth to their batting.

The bowlers were erratic but put forth a strong performance against Punjab to find some rhythm. The pitch isn’t expected to be as conducive to bowling as it was in Pune and they will need to bring forth their A-game in order to clinch the ascendancy from the outset. The pacers in Lungi Ngidi, Chahar, Bravo and Shardul Thakur along with Bhajji and Jadeja form the bowling repertoire.

Predicted XI

Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sam Billings, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi

Players to watch out for

Bhuvneshwar Kumar- Sunrisers Hyderabad

He has been a tad off colour and will be required to hit his straps, which won’t be easy against the might of the Super Kings. He conceded runs at an economy rate of greater than 8 and picked up only 8 wickets, which doesn’t define the potential of the bowler. Meanwhile, the Sunrisers need their premier bowler to run in and rattle Chennai’s celebrated batting lineup.

Ambati Rayudu- Chennai Super Kings

Rayudu is third on the list of the leading run scorers and needs 25 more runs to get back the Orange Cap. He encountered a rare failure in CSK’s erstwhile contest, however, with the kind of form he showed in the 14 matches, SRH can’t afford to undermine the Guntur-born cricketer. On a probable flat deck in Mumbai, the onus will be on him to take his team off to a steady start.

Head to Head  

Played- 8, Sunrisers Hyderabad- 2, Chennai Super Kings – 6, NR/Tie- 0

Stat Attack

Ambati Rayudu has three Man of the Match awards in the IPL while playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad including two in this season. He hasn’t had more than one MoM against any other team in the IPL.

Shikhar Dhawan has scored 527 runs in the IPL against the Chennai Super Kings. Only Virat Kohli (732) and Rohit Sharma (606) scored more runs than Dhawan against CSK.

Broadcast details

TV– Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Jalsha (Bengali), Star Maa Movies (Telegu), Star Sports Tamil

Online– Hotstar & YuppTv

Match Timings: 19:00 IST, 13:30 GMT

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