This is a great contest – the best bowling attack vs. the best batting line-up of the Indian Premier League. Sunrisers Hyderabad have done pretty well in this IPL and have lost only one game, which can be excused as they came up against a ravaging Chris Gayle, the Universe Boss, who wants all coaches involved in IPL 2018 to take note and “give some respect!”
As for Chennai Super Kings, they have done pretty well, winning their last game comfortably, and beating high quality teams such as Mumbai Indians. They will have to take a leaf out of Gayle’s book if they are going to do something about the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack, which has conceded runs at only 7.54 per over this season, pretty much the best economy rate in the IPL.
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Sunrisers Hyderabad features Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shakib Al Hasan, all high quality T20 bowlers, who are very hard to put away. They have a very good fast bowler in Billy Stanlake and we hope he is fit enough to play. They also have a decent back-up in Sidharth Kaul, a young bowler who has learned to make the most of his limitations.
What the Super Kings should do is do what Gayle did. Show proper respect to Bhuvneshwar Kumar – that guy is really a bowling machine and hard to hit out of the attack. But try to hit Rasheed Khan out of the attack. Rasheed is one of the best bowlers in the world, but he is still a young man and has not really been tested. Gayle tested him and he came on top, smashing Rasheed for 4 sixes in an over.
As for the team news, Sunrisers are not sure if Shikhar Dhawan will play or not after he was retired hurt because of a hit on his elbow in the last game. He was given a day off from training.
They will desperately hope for Billy Stanlake, who has been the fastest bowler in this IPL 2018 to come back. He missed the last game with an injury.
As for CSK, they look a settled outfit despite many injury concerns. Faf du Plessis has recovered from his injury but he is unlikely to get a game since Shane Watson has been playing so well.
Prediction: If Shikhar Dhawan misses out this game because of the injury sustained in the last match, we expect CSK to win.
The Teams
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Yusuf Pathan, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Deepak Hooda, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Siddharth Kaul, 11 Billy Stanlake
Chennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Ambati Rayudu, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Sam Billings, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Imran Tahir, 11 Shardul Thakur
Watch Sunrisers Hyderabad play Chennai Super Kings this evening at 4 pm live on Star Sports!
