Two out of form teams meet in the second half of the Indian Premier League double header on Sunday when the Rajasthan Royals host the Sunrisers Hyderabad with both looking to get their IPL 2023 season back on track.
Rajasthan had the luxury of a good start so their dip in form hasn’t done as much damage to them as the one which the Sunrisers have been through has done to their hopes but the Royals will still want to get back on track, as will Hyderabad, so this one is nicely set up.
Rajasthan Royals
The Rajasthan Royals opened up their campaign with four wins in five matches but they have reversed the form since then with four losses in their last five. The beaten finalists of a year ago will be eager to get back out in front on their ledger ahead of the last three matches. This one isn’t quite must win for the Royals but they are likely to need to find three wins from their last four to extend their season, so they will be under real pressure if they lose here.
Generally the batting of the Rajasthan Royals has been on point this season but that wasn’t the case in the last match against the Gujarat Titans. To be fair to the Royals, the Titans have an attack that can get on top of you early so that can happen but Rajasthan will certainly be looking for their top order to stand up and be counted here. The issue they do have is their bowling at the death has left plenty to be desired and certainly needs to improve.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
A spell of four defeats in five for the Sunrisers Hyderabad coupled with the revival of the Delhi Capitals have left the men in orange bottom of the table and potentially needing to win out from here in order to push their season into the final stages of the competition. They have the personnel to put wins together but their only win in the last five was a bit of a fortunate one against the Capitals and that form doesn’t read brilliantly well.
There are a couple of issues for Hyderabad at the minute. The biggest of them is finding a top order or an opening pair which can get them off to the sort of starts that they need in this tournament. They haven’t done that yet. The other is that the runs of the big money signing Harry Brook have dried up completely and Hyderabad are getting to the stage where a decision needs to be made there too. The lack of an out and out top class mystery spinner isn’t helping any either.
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Key Players
Sanju Samson has looked in good nick for the Rajasthan Royals in recent matches without really going on and getting that score that is going to give his side the stranglehold on a game. After the last batting effort it would be helpful if that comes here.
Heinrich Klaasen has delivered a few late cameos for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and given that he looks to be hitting the ball as well as anyone in orange it might be worth the think tank getting him up the order a little more.
Betting
The Rajasthan Royals in this indifferent spell have gone down to two of the top three, by seven runs to Bangalore and against the Mumbai Indians where they had every chance of defending a score at the Wankhede until three of the worst balls you will ever see bowled in the death overs from Jason Holder put paid to their chances in that. Scores don’t get defended very often at that venue though so you can forgive them that even though the last few balls were horrendous.
That isn’t necessarily the case for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. With the exception of when they posted 197/6 in beating the Delhi Capitals, their batting hasn’t really hit the heights in this indifferent spell of form and their bowling attack is carrying the weakness of an overseas captain and two more overseas batters leaving them light on international resources in the bowling department. Rajasthan might be terrible at the death but their spinners might have the squeeze on enough that it doesn’t matter in this match. Rajasthan won the reverse meeting between these two teams by 72 runs and I fancy they’ll complete the double over the Orange Army.
Tips
Back Rajasthan Royals to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Betway
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