The Rajasthan Royals are all set to take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first of the two encounter of VIVO IPL lined up for today (April 29). The Royals have had a mixed season with 50% win ratio so far and now with the tournament moving into an interesting phase Royals will try and win all their home matches and a few away games to stay in contention for the Play Offs.
The Sunrisers have 5 wins from 7 games but have played like a champion side. SRH have shown that T20 is not at all about having the best of batsmen in your side, one can win games purely based on the performance of the bowlers. Having defended scores of 118 and 132 SRH would be extremely proud of their bowling unit which is one of the best in the tournaments.
Interestingly, in both the games SRH bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar did not get to feature as he was injured. When Bhuvi returns to join SRH team, the already lethal bowling unit will be further strengthened. However, SRH shall have to address their batting woes. Apart from Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan who hasn’t contributed much after his injury, SRH batting seems to be lacking depth. An Alex Hales at the top of the order can be brought in or perhaps the domestic lad Sreevats Goswami could be a good bet just to add some flesh to the dismal looking batting order getting out for below par totals.
It has taken Rajasthan a little time to figure out a good combination for themselves. Jofra Archer made his IPL debut in some style the other day against Mumbai Indians and would be keen to play more games in India. Archer along with Ben Stokes, Heinrich Klaasen and Jos Buttler make for a dangerous overseas group, each of them proven match winners in the T20 format.
Ajinkya Rahane would face off against the Kiwi Kane Williamson in the captaincy battle at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur
Sanju Samson and skipper Rahane hold the key for Rajasthan’s batting. Samson has been in great touch this season and RR would expect more such contributions from him at the top of the order. Ajinkya Rahane has been scoring runs at a good strike rate this season but has not scored plenty of them. One would expect the captain to convert those starts into big scores and help RR post big totals on the board.
As far as SRH is concerned- clearly they look over reliant on Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Wliiamson and the rest have not looked in fine flow with the bat. Although SRH would be hoping that Dhawan finds his touch with the bat, other batsmen also need to step up and be among the runs.
Jofra Archer holds the key for RR. Archer could not participate in the team’s initial matches because of injury but was the player of the match in his opening game. A good fiery spell from Archer in the power play may set up things for a RR win today.
SRH have a great bowling unit and every bowler has been doing well for them. Rashid Khan has made na impressive comeback after his 2 off games and Bhuvi will be expected to lead the attack in case, he returns to the team for the game.
A good game of cricket from the pink city is on the cards. Broadcast Starts at 16:00 Hours (IST).
