The Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Rajasthan Royals in the first match of the 4th doubleheader of this year’s IPL in Dubai. David Warner led SRH have bounced back in style, winning comfortably against KXIP with their skipper being in great form. RR, captained by Steve Smith, has lost 4 on the bounce, and unlike Warner, the Aussie star has failed with the bat in each of those defeats.
SRH, after posting a mammoth 201 batting first thanks to a whirlwind 97 from Jonny Bairstow and another half-century by David Warner, the bowlers bowled exceptionally in the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Rashid Khan once again showed why he is the best in limited-overs cricket by taking 3 crucial wickets, and Natarajan delivered those precise yorkers which dented the KXIP chase. They will be happy with the form of Williamson, who finished the innings scoring 20 off just ten balls.
RR lost their 4th successive game and coming into this must-win game as the underdogs. They will be bolstered with the return of their charismatic all-rounder Ben Stokes, but it will not be easy for him either to make his presence felt from the game 1. Smith, Samson have poorly failed, and Jos Buttler could not replicate his previous match heroics. Tewatia and Archer bowled with heart in Sharjah while the rest failed. It will be an uphill task for RR to win this game and stay alive in this tournament.
Key players from both sides
Batsman – David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, and Steve Smith.
David Warner and Jonny Bairstow are arguably one of the best opening pairs in IPL if not in the world. It is not just the 1000 runs they have scored together in 16 innings, but how they dominate the bowlers is always a pleasure to watch as a spectator. The pair will look to add more in this game as their middle-order is relatively brittle. Both Jos Buttler and Steve Smith have to contribute to RR as it is now or never for them at this stage, while Samson has been a disappointment so far.
All Rounder- Abdul Samad, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tewatia, and Abhishek Sharma.
If Stokes does return, it will add much-needed prowess in the middle-order for the RR and lend support to RR bowling, which entirely depends on Jofra Archer. Rahul Tewatia continues to impress both with the bat and bowl. He bowled a tight spell in Sharjah and was the highest run-scorer with the bat in their last game. With SRH lacking quality all-rounders, they will have to go with 2 young Indians, Abhishek and Samad, in the middle-overs who have done decently so far and can only improve. A possibility of Vijay Shankar returning lingers who can strengthen their middle-order with his experience.
Bowlers – T Natarajan, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, and Rashid Khan.
Jofra Archer has bowled with much heart for RR throughout this campaign so far and desperately needs proper support from his other fast bowlers consistently. If he can knock off the SRH top-order, it will argue well for RR. Shreyas Gopal is a highly skillful bowler but has not been himself so far, and we have leg-spinners troubling SRH batsmen in the past, so that Gopal might be a handful. Rashid Khan has been sensational in this IPL picking up wickets and giving away only a few runs. He will be mighty useful in this game. Natarajan has shown great promise so far and has been quite economical with his accurate yorkers and proved to be a wicket-taker in crunch moments.
Battles to look forward
- Rashid Khan vs Steve Smith
- David Warner vs Jofra Archer
- Natarajan vs Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler is a fine exponent of playing unorthodox shots at any point in his batting innings, and how he faces the yorker specialist Natarajan will be good to watch. David Warner has time and again struggled against Jofra Archer, more so recently in the limited-overs series in England. This will be a contest of great proportions in the content of this game. Rashid Khan and Steve Smith are both quality cricketers, and it will be interesting to see how an out of form Smith tackles the ace leg spinner.
Head to Head between SRH and RR.
- Matches Played: 11
- SRH Won: 6
- RR won: 5
Significant Approaching Milestones.
67- David Warne needs 67 more runs to complete 5000 IPL career runs.
3- Sandeep Sharma requires 3 more scalps to take 100 IPL wickets.
9- Manish Pandey needs 9 more to score 3000 IPL runs.
Match conditions
Venue: Dubai international cricket stadium, Dubai.
Date & Timings: October 11, 2020, at 3.30 PM IST.
Weather: Clear with the temperature around 33-34 C.
Pitch: Likely to be a fair batting surface possibly slowing down as the game progresses.
