Both SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) had seen a similar pattern in their respective opening matches. Having been in dominating positions for most parts of the match, they slipped towards the end, losing their respective encounters.
SunRisers Hyderabad will welcome Rajasthan Royals for the 8th Match of IPL 2019 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.
SRH who batted first in Eden Gardens put up a fine batting display but couldn’t defend the total and barred the death-over assault by Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) Andre Russell. While RR were also in a dominating position earlier against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) before one controversial dismissal led to a batting collapse.
Experts believe that it is going to be a good batting surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. While the dew isn’t expected to play a role, the temperature will hover around 30 degree Celsius.
New Zealand skipper, Kane Williamson is expected to be available for the game against Rajasthan Royals and might also lead the SunRisers Hyderabad team. The inclusion of Kane Williamson in the SRH squad may leave Jonny Bairstow on the bench.
SRH Team (From): David Warner, Jonny Bairstow(w), Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar(c), Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Kane Williamson, Ricky Bhui, Shreevats Goswami, Wriddhiman Saha, Martin Guptill, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Billy Stanlake, K Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan
Probable XI: David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul
The team that RR went within the opening game wasn’t a bad one so, it is expected that the home side will stick with the same playing XI for the second game despite the loss against KXIP, after a bit of a jolt with the ‘mankading’ incident.
RR Team (From): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sanju Samson, Steven Smith, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Prashant Chopra, Manan Vohra, Aryaman Birla, Stuart Binny, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Shubham Ranjane, Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag, Mahipal Lomror, Ish Sodhi, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Sudhesan Midhun
Probable XI: Jos Buttler (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni
Wicketkeeper: Jos Buttler hammered the KXIP bowling unit in their first matchup before the ‘mankading incident’ by Ashwin took place which ended up his innings for the match. He is in a good form and is expected to repeat his batting performance in this fixture as well.
Batsmen: For SRH, David Warner showed his form after serving a ban from last year’s IPL, he smashed a 53-ball 85 to take Sunrisers to 185 in their 20 overs. The inclusion of Kane Williamson can also play an important role in SRH. On the other side, Steve Smith and skipper Ajinkya Rahane are expected to play an important role with the bat.
All-rounders: Shakib Al Hasan, Vijay Shankar for SRH and Ben Stokes for Rajasthan Royals are the two prime all-rounders to look after in the match, as both are capable of hitting the ball hard with the bat and also could bring certain differences in the match through their bowling capabilities.
Bowlers: For SRH, among pacers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the attack while Rashid Khan will take care of the spin bowling attack. Jofra Archer and Dhawal Kulkarni will be leading the pace bowling attack for RR while Shreyas Gopal and Krishnappa Gowtham will look after the spin bowling attack.
Captain: David Warner and Kane Williamson are expected to blast off the bowling attack of RR and are the contenders for Dream 11 captains. On the other side, RR will be having high hopes with Jos Buttler and Steve Smith.
Jos Buttler (wk/VC), David Warner (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Shakib Al Hasan, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer.
Jos Buttler (wk/C), David Warner (VC), Manish Pandey, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni.