Sunrisers Hyderabad are in only their third IPL season. Despite an impressive debut season in 2013, they slumped to sixth position last year under two different captains. They must be itching to make amends this year, and even bought Kevin Pietersen who pulled out later on. They then named David Warner as captain, who will lead a talent-heavy side resting on pillars of imported raw material, making them one of the strongest squads on paper this season.
But in their quest to start strong and afresh, they run into heavyweights Chennai Super Kings. If a team thinks they have a plan to beat Super Kings, they must rethink those and have plans B, C… till Z ready as back up. On Thursday Super Kings showed how to win a match even when Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina both fail. They showed how to defend 150 on an Indian pitch. They showed how to flaunt a bowling attack comprising only Indian frontline bowlers against a deep batting line-up and still win.
Some questions still remain about their weak link from last year – seam-bowling options. Barring Ashish Nehra, no other Super Kings fast bowler conceded less than 7.50 per over against Delhi Daredevils and if they want to make changes, they have Kyle Abbott, Matt Henry, Irfan Pathan and Andrew Tye waiting in the barracks. And a question everyone asks but it always goes unanswered – shouldn’t MS Dhoni move up the order?
Unlike Super Kings, whose core is made up of domestic players, Sunrisers will draw their strength from overseas talent. To conceal a weak middle order, they would want their captain Warner, and former captain Shikhar Dhawan to fire upfront. Another contrasting factor in their ranks compared to Super Kings’ is their lethal bowling line-up. Dale Steyn, Trent Boult, Praveen Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma. Pace, bounce, swing, seam, venom…you name it, they have it. It is bound to bring up some mouth-watering clashes such as McCullum v Boult, Raina v Steyn, Warner v Mohit, Dhawan v Nehra.
Watch out for…
Sunrisers’ most prolific batsman last year – David Warner – was also the tournament’s fourth-highest run-scorer. The difference this time is the captaincy pressure he will be under to brighten the fortunes of his team. An average of 36 against Super Kings and a high score of 135 not out, even if it was for New South Wales, should cheer him up.
While conceding 17 runs against Daredevils in the last over, Dwayne Bravo was seen delivering one poor ball after another. He was their most expensive bowler and scored only 1 when Super Kings needed him to accelerate in the last five overs. Talking of form, he did not play in the World Cup and has struggled with the bat this year in domestic matches.
Stats and trivia
MS Dhoni averages 204 against Sunrisers. He has been dismissed only once in five innings and has scores of 57*, 13*, 63*, 4, 67* against them at a strike-rate of 179
Dhoni has scored 103 runs off 56 deliveries against Dale Steyn in the IPL and has been dismissed twice by him
Super Kings’ win by one run on Thursday gave them their 70th win – the most by any side in the IPL
Sunrisers are the only team whose batsmen have not hit a century in the IPL and are also the only team yet to see a fifty from their captain
Quotes
“It is a new wicket. There was a little bit of bounce compared to what I have seen here in the past. It was not a wicket on which you will bowl too up, if you bowl back of a length, if you bowl good line and length, it will definitely pay off.”
Ashish Nehra assesses the Chennai pitch
