IPL 2019, SRH Vs RR Preview: Winless Former Champions Face-Off In Crunch Match

After losing their respective opening matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019, both the teams will be gearing to resurrect their fortunes, as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Though both the teams put up a good show, they couldn’t hit the final nail in the coffin and end up on the losing side. 

In their match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday, SRH looked pretty solid throughout the match, except for the last three overs, where Russell’s assault took the game away from them. Their batting looked balanced as David Warner and Jonny Bairstow got off to a good start. The Australian explosive opener, who is returning back to competitive cricket following the one-year ban for ball tampering, was in prime form as he smashed 85 off 53 balls. Vijay Shankar played an entertaining cameo as he amassed 40 off 24 balls. 

Death bowling is one prime concern for SRH. Needing 53 from the last three overs, Andre Russell smashed Bhuvneshwar and Siddarth Kaul all over the park before Shakib was taken to the cleaners by Shubhman Gill. The Bhuveneshwar led SRH team, ended up losing the game by 6 wickets. 

With the likes of Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan and Shakib Al Hasan in their forte, SRH will be going all attack looking for their first victory in their first home match of this season. Being the most economical bowling lineup during the previous year, SRH will hope that their bowlers Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul put up a much-improved show.

It is also to be seen if SRH’s regular skipper Kane Williamson, who missed the first game due to an injury, is fit to take the field on Friday.

Rajasthan Royals on the other hand, will be hoping to put behind their disappointing first-day show against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), as they aim to start their campaign afresh in Hyderabad. Their campaign was plagued by a controversial incident when a well set Jos Butler, was ‘mankaded’ by KXIP’s skipper R Ashwin.

Chasing 185, Butler (69) played the central role as RR were cruising towards victory. But the mankading incident completely changed the dimension of the game. The batsmen who followed succumbed to pressure and gifted the match in KXIP’s favour. They lost the match by 14 runs.

RR will be hoping for more support from Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith and Ben Stokes in the batting department. Smith, who is also returning to the IPL after missing the last edition of IPL due to the ball-tampering scandal, will be eager to spend more time at the middle ahead of the upcoming ODI World Cup. 

Windies Pacer Jofra Archer looked lethal against KXIP giving just 17 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Krishnappa Gowtham and medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni were also impressive with their bowling. The Hyderabad wicket has been a high scoring batsman’s paradise and it should be a closely contested high scoring game on Friday.

Head-to-Head and Key numbers: 
SRH has faced RR for 9 times in IPL; off which SRH have won 5 matches, while RR have emerged victorious 4 times. 
- SRH’s best position in IPL: Winners in 2016
- RR’s best position in IPL: Winners in 2008
- Highest individual score in this fixture : Shane Watson (RR) - 98* in Jaipur (2013). Shane         Watson was a part of RR camp from 2008 to 2015. Currently, he is a part of the CSK team.
- Best bowling figures in this fixture: James Faulkner (RR) - 5/16 in Hyderabad (2013)
- Most runs in this fixture: Shikhar Dhawan (SRH) - 253. Shikhar Dhawan was a part of the SRH     camp from 2013 to 2018. Currently he is a part of the Delhi Capitals team.
- Most wickets in this fixture: James Faulkner (RR)- 12.  

When and how to watch:
Date: March 29 (Friday), 2019 
Time: 8 PM IST
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Tv guide: Star Sports Network
Live streaming: Hotstar

Expected Eleven: 
Sunrisers Hyderabad:  Bhuvneshwar Kumar (C), Manish Pandey, David Warner, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan,  Vijay Shankar,  Jonny Bairstow, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Rashid Khan.

Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat,  Dhawal Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Rahul Tripathi.

Squads: 
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C), Manish Pandey, Martin Guptill, Ricky Bhui, David Warner, Deepak Hooda, Mohammad Nabi, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Sreevats Goswami, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi, Billy Stanlake, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem.

Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Ashton Turner, Ish Sodhi, Oshane Thomas, Liam Livingstone, Sanju Samson, Shubham Ranjane, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sudhesan Midhun, Jaydev Unadkat, Prashant Chopra, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, Riyan Parag, Dhawal Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Varun Aaron, Shashank Singh, Manan Vohra, Rahul Tripathi.