The Indian Premier League action on Tuesday comes from Hyderabad as the in form Sunrisers Hyderabad take on the grossly out of form Rising Pune Supergiants in yet another important game in the high profile Asian showpiece.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
There appears to be no stopping the Sunrisers at present. It took them a couple of matches to get into their stride this season but they have now won their last three matches and a win here will shift them up to second in the table from where they will be eyeing up a spot in the qualifier come the playoffs.
Dave Warner has been getting all the attention for the Sunrisers. As captain and top scorer that is only natural I guess but for me their key man has been Mustafizur Rahman. His economy through high class bowling with mysterious variety has been impressive to watch and he’s a star of the tournament. When you think Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra are all to come back the Sunrisers are looking good.
Rising Pune Supergiants
It has been the opposite story for the Supergiants. They won their first match in emphatic style against the Mumbai Indians but haven’t really threatened a win since then. If they don’t find a win soon they will find themselves out of playoff contention which wouldn’t have been the plan when assembling the squad they have.
MS Dhoni was very scathing of his bowlers in the previous match so it will be interesting to see how they respond to that public dressing down. It will also be interesting to see how their batsmen go from here on in given the huge hole that Kevin Pietersen’s injury has left.
Team news
Ashish Nehra was seen warming up prior to the last game the Sunrisers played. That was far enough ago for him to most likely be available here. He could come in for Barinder Sran. Kane Williamson and Yuvraj Singh remain on the injured list.
Given that he was so vocal publicly after the last match it would be a massive surprise if MS Dhoni doesn’t make changes to the bowling attack for his side. Ishant Sharma and Mitchell Marsh could come back in. Adam Zampa could be another option.
Form
Sunrisers Hyderabad: LLWWW
Rising Pune Supergiants: WLLLL
Head to head: First meeting
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium
There have been three matches on this ground to date in the tournament with all three being won by the chasing side. It has to be said the first innings scores haven’t been great so far but these matches were all won when chasing was the in thing. That is beginning to level itself out.
Generally the wicket is a good cricket one. The batsmen get the ball coming onto the bat and get full value for their shots but the bowlers get enough pace and bounce to remain in the game at all times and that has reflected in the scoring so far on this ground.
Betting
It is hard to go against the form guide here. Sometimes you can take the form book on when a side have been unlucky but quite simply Pune haven’t been good enough.
Throughout the competition we’ve all thought Hyderabad’s batting has been about Warner or nothing but I’m not so sure that is the case anymore now that Shikhar Dhawan and Eoin Morgan are back in form.
Kevin Pietersen has left a massive hole in the Supergiants batting and their bowling has left a lot to be desired. Pune will have to deal with the best bowler in the tournament for my money here in Mustafizur and that isn’t going to be easy so I’m with the home side Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Tips
Back Sunrisers Hyderabad to beat Rising Pune Supergiants for a 4/10 stake at 1.75 with Coral
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