IPL 9, Match 40 Preview: Sunrisers Hyderabad aiming to surge ahead

MS Dhoni and his band of merry men face the prospect of being knocked out of the IPL 9 as early as their fixture against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The latter, in a complete contrast to their opponents, are in the form of their lives. What adds more insult to injury is the fact that the Vishakapatnam crowd will certainly be more in favor of the Sunrisers Hyderabad despite the fact that it is the home of the Pune Supergiants.

Team News

Rising Pune Supergiants

The Rising Pune Supergiants would certainly not welcome the change of the venue. Especially, against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, it will certainly feel like a home game for the latter. However, having said that, it certainly is a must-win game for the Supergiants as they aim for a playoff spot. While the encouraging quotes of Stephen Fleming may well come as a motivation for his men, the writing is on the wall as far as the Supergiants are concerned.

The spotlight will be on Aussie opener, Usman Khawaja. A plethora of injuries and a bevy of foreign players leaving the side due to fatigue saw Khawaja finally make an entry into the side. He was also Australia’s highest run-scorer at the World T20. Khawaja has had a couple of starts in the IPL but hasn’t been able to build on them. Still his timing has been impeccable. A cloud of uncertainty remains over the fitness of mystery spinner Murugan Ashwin. The latter may well be replaced by Irfan Pathan. Ravichandran Ashwin may well also be left out of the side after bowling just the one over against the Challengers. Ishwar Pandey also may have the slimmest of chances of making it into the playing XI.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Sunrisers Hyderabad are on a roll at the moment. A magnificent bowling performance against the Mumbai Indians saw them become seemingly invincible. However, while all that is good, David Warner will be wary of the threat the Supergiants pose. After all, a lion is at its most dangerous when he is backed into a corner.

While the spotlight has wavered on all the amazing performances in the IPL thus far, Shikhar Dhawan’s unprecedented surge in form has been something amazing to watch. He has scored 294 runs in his last six innings, just 59 short of his entire tally in the 2015 season. That combined with his strike rate of 116.54 indicates the change in his role from a basher to an accumulator. That it has been a successful switch is clear from the fact that five of his last six knocks have resulted in wins.

Probable XI-

Rising Pune Supergiants:

MS Dhoni (C/wk), Usman Khawaja, Ajinkya Rahane, Saurabh Tiwary, Thisara Perera, George Bailey, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin/ Irfan Pathan, Adam Zampa, Ashok Dinda, RP Singh/Murugan Ashwin

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

David Warner (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Moises Henriques, Naman Ojha (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Barinder Sran, Mustafizur Rahman

StAttack:

1. The Sunrisers have the best economy rate in powerplays in the current edition of the IPL. The economy rate is currently 6.44.

2. David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan have put on 50+ stands on three occasions in the IPL this season. All these have come in winning causes.

3. Shikhar Dhawan has five 40+ scores in his last six innings.