After a swift start to the campaign, the Sunrisers Hyderabad were finally eliminated from the tournament last week as they suffered consecutive defeats. Cracks in the middle-order system began to show for SRH. While Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma did much of the heavy lifting during Sunrisers’ incredible winning streak, the duo failed to replicate that form in the last two games. SRH will need players like Aiden Markram, Nitish Rana, and Anmolpreet Singh to step up and share the burden of scoring. It’s now evident that the performances of the top order have pushed the opposition aside so much that the middle-order representatives have often had it easy. Pat Cummins and T. Natarajan performed well, taking 23 wickets between them, with an economy rate of less than 10 runs per over. However, the same cannot be said for Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jaydev Unadkat, who often leaked runs. SRH’s bowling was average but not outstanding. Natarajan, with his ability to bowl yorkers, was the only genuine threat consistently.
Currently, the members of the Rajasthan Royals’ royal family are experiencing a purple patch. The team has won 8 out of 9 matches and comfortably sits at the top of the points table. Another victory here would guarantee RR as the first team to qualify for the playoffs. Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal form a strong opening pair. They will once again look to provide RR with a solid start. The biggest success for the team lies in the performance of the middle-order batsmen. Sanju Samson has scored 4 half-centuries in 9 innings and has received excellent support from Riyan Parag, who has 3 fifties to his name. In the lower order, there are several quality players such as Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, and Rovman Powell. With almost every batter in good form, RR currently faces a selection headache, and there might be a temptation to make slight changes just to test themselves. Yuzvendra Chahal is the top bowler with 13 wickets, while the seamers Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma have performed well with the new ball. Ravichandran Ashwin has struggled this season, managing to take only 2 wickets. The resurgence of Sandeep Sharma this season has added depth to the RR lineup and given them the freedom to play in their strongest composition.
