24 May,2024 11:01 PM IST | Chennai | mid-day online correspondent
Yashasvi Jaiswal (Pic: AFP)
IPL's best power-hitters Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma will face a very different challenge in wily spin twins Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin when Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Rajasthan Royals in a high-octane second Qualifier on Friday.
'Travishek' as the duo is affectionately called by the fans have taken power-hitting to a new level. Head (533 runs at 199.62) and Abhishek (470 at 207.04) have hit 72 sixes apart from 96 boundaries between them.
If that's not enough, they have a swashbuckler in Heinrich Klaasen (413 runs at 180), who also has 34 maximums to his credit.
But playing on an Uppal shirtfront that resembled a national highway or at the Kotla or Wankhede is completely from playing at the Chepauk where the strip will be sticky in nature.
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The ball stops and stroke-makers do have a tough time when it comes to hitting through the line.
Ashwin, who has played all his cricket at this ground, knows the strip like the back of his hand and his form has improved towards the back-end of the tournament.
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With the country's best leg-spinner Chahal for company, Royals would be hoping that Head, Abhishek and Klaasen can be disposed off quickly to gain control of the proceedings.
As for their bowling, the onus would once again be on T Natarajan, who has been SRH's top wicket-taker this season, and playing on his home turf here, he would love to exploit the conditions.
Also, the experienced duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Cummins have a lot to deal with as the former has been wicket-less in his last two games.
SRH's problems lie in not having two quality spinners. Mayank Markande is mediocre at best and Shahbaz Ahmed's primary skill is willow-wielding, not bowling slow left-arm orthodox tweakers.
As for RR, the side finally ended its five-game winless streak, thanks to its all-round show against RCB.
In batting, the top-order displayed some positive signs, especially Yashasvi Jaiswal, and he would love to continue the form ahead of the T20 World Cup in the Americas next month.
However, skipper Sanju Samson will have to do better, given that he hasn't crossed the 20-run mark in the last three contests.
In the middle order, Dhruv Jurel will be under pressure, having failed to enter the double digits in his last two outings.
The side would also be relying on its Caribbean game-changers Shimron Hetmyer and West Indies T20 skipper Rovman Powell for some power-hitting that they displayed against RCB.
Riyan Parag, who has displayed some serious form this term, is also one of their bankable batters.
SRH: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Upendra Yadav (wk), Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh and Mayank Agarwal.
RR: Sanju Samson (c & wk), Abid Mushtaq, Avesh Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Kuldeep Sen, Kunal Singh Rathore, Nandre Burger, Navdeep Saini, Ravichandran Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Rovman Powell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Trent Boult, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yuzvendra Chahal and Tanush Kotian
Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Rajasthan did not make any changes to their playing 11 from the Eliminator against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The Hyderabad outfit brought in middle-order batter Aiden Markram for this game in the lone change they made to the eleven. The winner of this match will face Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2024 final on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson (capt & wk), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan
10:47 PM: 103/6 (15.2 Overs)
Shimron Hetmyer out bowled by Abhishek Sharma. SRH on a roll as RR go six down now. Jurel and Powell are last hope for RR.
10:34 PM: 81/5 (12.1 Overs)
Ravichandran Ashwin gets caught by Klaasen bowled by Shahbaz Ahmed. RR go five down now as Aiden Markram comes in to bowl now.
10:29 PM: 79/3 (11 Overs)
Sanju Samson gets caught by Aiden Markram off Abhishek Sharma's bowling. RR are in deep trouble at the moment as they go three down now with in-form skipper back to the pavilion.
10:18 PM: 25/1 (6.1 Overs)
Tom Kohler-Cadmore gets caught by Rahul Tripathi off Pat Cummins' delivery. SRH finally get the first one and it is Sanju Samson who comes in at number 3.
9:50 PM: 14/0 (2.3 Overs)
Rajasthan Royals begin chase with Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Yashasvi Jaiswal. SRH bring in Pat Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the new ball.
9:17 PM: 175/9 (20 Overs)
Sunrisers Hyderabad have got 175 runs on the board after being put to bat first by Rajasthan Royals. RR bowlers Sandeep Sharma and Avesh Khan delivered brilliantly in the death with wickets and dot balls.
9:08 PM: 167/7 (18.3 Overs)
Heinrich Klaasen gets out bowled by Sandeep Sharma. Pat Cummins comes in the middle now to join Shahbaz Ahmed. SRH have 11 balls left in the innings.
8:57 PM: 132/6 (15.1 Overs)
Royals in control with successive wickets of Abdul Samad and Nitish Reddy. SRH go six down and bring in the impact sub now, Shahbaz Ahmed.
8:46 PM: 116/4 (13 Overs)
Three overs have gone by for Chahal so far and a wicket will make it good at the moment.
8:35 PM: 101/4 (10.3 Overs)
Sandeep Sharma strikes as the dangerous Travis Head departs. SRH are four down now and Nitish Reddy comes in to bat now.
8:23 PM: 92/3 (8.2 Overs)
R Ashwin brought back by Sanju Samson after the powerplay. He has gone for 25 from the first two overs and now he comes up against Head.
8:17 PM: 69/3 (6.1 Overs)
Trent Boult has scalped three wickets in the Powerplay, it is just the ideal start for RR. However, SRH have got some heavy runs from the powerplay.
8:00 PM: 45/1 (4 Overs)
Rahul Tripathi is on fire with the willow as he goes all guns blazing against Ashwin. Rajasthan lose a bit of control after getting the first wicket.
7:39 PM: 22/1 (2 Overs)
Sharma gets caught by Tom Cadle More off Trent Boult's delivery. SRH go one down as Sharma departs early. RR Off to a fine start.
7:32 PM: 9/0 (1 over)
With a length ball around off, opner Abhishek Sharma announces himself with a stylish pull over deep midwicket for four. Couple of big shots more from Sharma's willow, as Head keeps it slow on two runs on the board.
