Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will aim for a hat-trick of wins when they take on Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League (IPL) tie at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Sunday.
After starting their IPL 2018 campaign on a decent note by winning three consecutive games, the Kane Williamson-led Hyderabad side faltered a bit, losing a couple of games against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Hyderabad however, returned to winning ways as they came out victorious against a struggling Mumbai Indians (MI) and avenged their defeat against Punjab in their last match.
Placed second in the points-table, SRH carries 10 points in their kitty, with five wins from seven games.
Skipper Williamson has carried Hyderabad’s batting on his shoulders, amassing 259 runs from seven innings with an average of 43.16.
However, Shikhar Dhawan and Wridhiman Saha have not given the required support to Hyderabad’s batting.
Saha has been below par with the bat with just 68 runs from seven games while Dhawan has been a bit better with 146 runs from five innings.
Earlier when the two sides clashed in the league, Yusuf Pathan had shown glimpses of his old attacking batting, with a quick 27-ball 45, but failed to repeat the show against Mumbai and Punjab.
Hyderabad’s strength mostly relies on their bowlers, who didn’t let Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence be felt in the game against Mumbai and Punjab.
Bhuvneshwar has scalped six wickets from four games, with an economy under seven.
Spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Rashid Khan have bagged eight and nine wickets each from seven games while medium pacer Siddarth Kaul has been the most impressive with nine wickets from seven games.
Another medium pacer, Basil Thampi, who has featured in just a couple of games for Hyderabad, came out with a clinical show against Mumbai. The 24-year-old further maintained his form against Punjab and has scalped four wickets conceding just 18 runs.
On the other hand, Rajasthan will be coming after a week break and will be in search of their fourth win on Sunday.
With three wins and as many defeats, Rajasthan is placed fifth with six points.
Rajasthan has a lot to worry about. Rajasthan started their IPL 2018 campaign on a poor note, hammered by Hyderabad by 9 wickets.
They, however, gained momentum and registered two back-to-back wins against Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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Later, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings outclassed them by seven wickets and 64 runs respectively. However, the Ajinkya Rahane-led side registered a three-wicket win over Mumbai in their last match.
Rahane has looked good but has not been converting good starts into big scores. Ben Stokes and Rahul Tripathi have been inconsistent.
Sanju Samson looks good with 239 runs from six games, averaging 47.80.
Rajasthan’s bowlers — K. Gowtham and Ben Laughlin — have performed well while leggie Shreyas Gopal has also been economical. But the trio has failed to click as a unit in a single match.
Jaydev Unadkat also needs to raise his level to live to the expectations of the franchise.
Overall, host Rajasthan will try to avenge their defeat against Hyderabad on Sunday.
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