Sunrisers Hyderabad will have their task cut out when they take on the in-form Rajasthan Royals in Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
The Royals top the points table with three wins from as many games and are the team to beat. Rajasthan will enter the game high on confidence having thrashed Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in their previous match.
After their bowlers kept Mumbai batsmen on a tight leash to restrict them to 164 for five, the Royals were powered by their top order batsmen who never let the Indians bowling settle.
Opener Ajinkya Rahane scored a brisk 46 before stand-in captain Steven Smith sealed the match with a thrilling 79 from 53 deliveries. His calming presence in the field and assured batting is something Royals’ Shane Watson is hoping continues as long as possible.
“I think he is on par with AB de Villiers at the moment and Virat Kohli when he is at his best. It is incredible to see Smith just continue to pile on the runs in every format. It looks like it’s not going to end and let’s hope it doesn’t for quite a while,” Watson said.
The pace attack, led by New Zealand’s Tim Southee, has also looked incisive with South African Chris Morris providing great support. Seamers Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny and leg-spinner Pravin Tambe too have played their part to perfection to power Royals’ surge with James Faulkner chipping in every now and then.
While the Royals are firing on all cylinders, Hyderabad have not done too badly either. After losing their first match to Chennai, Sunrisers bowlers came up with a stellar show to restrict a star-studded Bangalore batting line-up to 166 and then chase it down with seven wickets in hand.
During the chase only Kane Williamson failed with the bat with David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul making runs with ease. The bowling form of seamers Trent Boult and Bhuvneshwar Kumar should give them belief that they can tie down the efficient Rajasthan batting line-up.
