Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 Match 11 at Vizag on Friday. While Sunrisers have won one out of their two games, Rajasthan Royals are unbeaten in their three games in the tournament so far. Led by twoAustralian teammates, Steve Smith’s Royals are looking much more consistent and strong compared to David Warner’s Sunrisers. IPL 2015: Points Table and Team Standings
Sunrisers Hyderabad played their first IPL 8 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and their bowling were destroyed by Brendon McCullum. The bowlers failed miserably, as CSK posted a massive 209, riding on not only McCullum’s hundred but MS Dhoni’s half-century. In return,Sunrisers batsmen managed to score only 164. Apart from captain Warner, the top-order failed and it was all left to the middle-order batsmen to finish the match. Coming into their second match, the positive SRH camp faced Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The SRH bowlers were spot on, as they bowled out the home team for 166 and two batting partnerships helped SRH chase down the target well within 17.2 overs.
On the other hand, Rajasthan have had an action-packed IPL season so far. They first defeatedKings XI Punjab (KXIP), riding on ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final’s hero, James Faulkner’s, all-round performance. In their second game, the boys in blue were tested immensely by Delhi Daredevils (DD). But they held their nerves, as Tim Southee’s last ball four helped the Royals to win by three wickets. On Tuesday, skipper Smith and Ajinkya Rahane’s partnership scripted a successful chase for the Rajasthan side against the Mumbai Indians. All in all, Royals might have faltered initially in the three matches, but came back strong when it mattered.
On paper, both SRH and RR appear equally strong. However, SRH have an upper-hand in their bowling , which features big names like Dale Steyn, Trent Boult, Praveen Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, etc. They might not have an equally impressive batting line-up, but that doesn’t mean they can be taken lightly. The top order is strengthen by Warner and Shikhar Dhawan’s presence. They have the likes of Ravi Bopara and Kane Williamson, who on their day can be dangerous. The likes of Moises Henriques and Eoin Morgan are yet to feature in the playing eleven. Both have made a name for themselves in the limited-overs game over a period of time and the Sunrisers think-tank can look to give them a chance.
Whereas Rajasthan have a balanced unit. Though they may not have big names, but players like Smith, Faulkner, Rahane and Southee can be effective. While the bowlers have performed as a whole, it is the batting line-up which have helped Rajasthan to win matches. Especially Smith have been exceptional, with Rahane, Faulkner, Karun Nair, Stuart Binny providing strength. Not to forget the youngster Deepak Hooda, who probably has been the find of the tournament so far. IPL 2015: Schedule with venue details
Against Sunrisers, the Royals are likely to field the same team which have beaten Mumbai. The team is performing well and it seems Rahul Dravid‘s boys have all based covered this season. But in this game pressure will be on young Sanju Samson to score some runs. Off late he had a tough period with bat. He needs to score against Sunrisers, otherwise the back up keeperDishant Yagnik might replace him.
For Sunrisers, Steyn is yet to play a match in IPL 2015, and it will be interesting to see whether Warner, coach Tom Moody and mentor VVS Laxman to decide to bring in the South African pacer. If he features in Friday’s match, then Bopara has to sacrifice his place, given the fact that Boult has been bowling well. Another change which can be expected is in the Indian all-rounder’s section, the misfiring Karn Sharma may be dropped and Laxmi Ratan Shukla or Parvez Rasoolmight get a look in. In such case, Williamson might be needed to bowl few overs of off-spin.
The USP of this encounter will be the battle between Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowlers and Rajasthan Royals’ batsmen. It will also be a clash of two Aussie captains, who know each other’s strengths and weakness quite well. IPL 2015: Complete Coverage
Squads:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, Karn Sharma, KL Rahul, Ishant Sharma, Trent Boult, Kane Williamson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Naman Ojha (wk), Praveen Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Ashish Reddy, Parvez Rasool, Moises Henriques, Ravi Bopara, Ricky Bhui, Chama Milind, Eoin Morgan, Prasanth Padmanabhan, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Hanuma Vihari.
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith, Sanju Samson (wk), Pravin Tambe, Tim Southee, James Faulkner, Karun Nair, Dhawal Kulkarni, Chris Morris, Vikramjeet Malik, Rajat Bhatia, Stuart Binny, Ben Cutting, Ankit Sharma, Brainder Sran, Deepak Hooda, Abhishek Nayar, Dinesh Salunkhe, Rahul Tewatia, Dishant Yagnik, Sagar Trivedi, Juan Theron, Pradeep Sahu.
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals, Match 11, IPL 2015 Preview: Rejuvenated Hyderabad will look to end Rajasthan’s winning streak
