IPL 2019: Sunrisers Hyderabad look to arrest slump against leaders CSK

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  • SRH in desperate need of a win. Image - BCCI/SPORTZPICS.

    The finalists of the last edition meet for the first time in the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign with Sunrisers Hyderabad set to play host to Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday.

    But while defending champions CSK are looking like the team to beat once again after registering seven wins from eight games, Sunrisers find themselves struggling at the bottom half of the table instead following a spate of recent setbacks.

    Hyderabad were flying in the early stages of the competition after opening the campaign with a narrow loss to Kolkata Knight Riders. Last season’s runners-up followed that loss up with three straight wins to assert their credentials once again but that streak now seems like a distant memory after three losses in a row.

    BATTING COLLAPSES PLAGUE SRH

    The latest of Hyderabad’s loss came against Delhi Capitals where they collapsed dramatically from 101-2 to be bowled out for 116 ultimately in chase of 156.

    It was not the first batting collapse at home this season for SRH who suffered a similar fate against Mumbai Indians where Alzarri Joseph’s 6-12 saw them being bundled out for just 96 runs while attempting to chase a modest total of 137.

    Hyderabad’s batting vulnerability is all the more shocking considering they have the most formidable opening pairing of all eight teams. The Australia-England combination of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow has so far contributed 704 runs in total but a shaky middle-order has seen the side struggle recently despite the openers’ dominance.

    NABI CONUNDRUM

    To arrest their batting woes, Hyderabad reinstated skipper Kane Williamson into the playing XI for the clash against Delhi with Mohammad Nabi dropping to the bench.

    The Afghan all-rounder had been nothing short of exceptional for the franchise in his four appearances previously which had seen him claim seven wickets while maintaining an astounding economy-rate of just 5.49.

    It was hard to justify Nabi’s exclusion and Williamson did himself no favours with a scratchy eight-ball innings which yielded just three runs. The Kiwi top-order batsman will likely keep his place given the batting shortcomings of Hyderabad but he will need to replicate his 2018 displays with the bat soon while Nabi continues to sit out.

    Nabi has been excellent. Image - BCCI/SPORTZPICS.

    Nabi has been excellent. Image – BCCI/SPORTZPICS.

    CSK ON A ROLL

    While SRH are struggling to hit the same heights as last season, Chennai are having no such troubles with MS Dhoni and his men running away at the top of the table.

    The three-time champions have only been beaten by Mumbai Indians this campaign and come into the clash on the back of a four-game winning run which includes two victories over the formidable Kolkata Knight Riders.

    The clash against Hyderabad will be the third straight match on the road for CSK with another away clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore to follow.

    The defending champions hold the upper hand over SRH when it comes to recent meetings with Dhoni’s men emerging on top in each of the four encounters between the two sides in the 2018 edition, including the final.

    TEAM NEWS

    All-rounder Dwayne Bravo continues to be sidelined for CSK after picking up a hamstring injury and as such, New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner should continue to keep his place in the playing XI.

    LIKELY XIs

    Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed.

    Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (c and wk), Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh.

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