Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Lions are two of the in-form teams of the IPL 2016. Sunrisers Hyderabad had the better of Gujarat Lions the last time they met, so the Lions would desperately seek a big win tomorrow.
Sunrisers have everything you could ask for, a powerful batting line-up with David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson, a lethal bowling attack led by the sensational Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh.
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But they have a few glaring weaknesses. Their middle order is nothing much to talk about and so far they lacked any serious Indian batting talent in the middle.
Not any longer though, as Yuvraj Singh will be making his debut for the Sunrisers after missing out the first half of the season because of an injury. Thus is welcome news indeed. Yuvraj has been batting and bowling with full gusto in the nets for Hyderabad and he looks set to play for his new franchise.
Gujarat Lions are sweating over Dwayne Bravo, perhaps their most important player, who missed out the last match because of and looks likely to miss this match as well.
It is batting that concerns Gujarat Lions the most. While they have a powerful top-3 in Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Suresh Raina, the middle order has shown itself to be quite brittle, which would worry them deeply.
Dinesh Karthik has done okay though and in fact has done everything that could be expected from him, getting 215 runs at an average of 35.83 and strike rate of 127.21. Jadeja’s poor run with the bat continues in this IPL, and he got his first 30-plus score in 27 matches in the last game.
Sunriser’s Williamson is an impressive young player, who is adept in all formats – Tests, ODIs and T20s. He is reckoned by many to be the best batsman in the world. The fact that he bats at no. 3 and Yuvraj at no. 4 makes the Sunrisers side a formidable one; especially when you consider that they have the best opening partnership in the IPL 2016 in Warner and Dhawan.
Gujarat Lions depend a lot on Praveen Kumar, the 29-year old who looks like a 41-year old, who has kept things tidy for them at the start and end of the innings. He has a knack for getting his yorkers just right, especially during the most crucial stages of the match. Dhawal Kulkarni not bad either, and in young Shivil Kaushik, they have a terrific prospect, albeit one with the strangest action in cricket.
The Teams
Sunrisers Hyderabad : 1 David Warner(capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Yuvraj Singh/Deepak Hooda, 5 Naman Ojha(wk), 6 Moises Henriques, 7 Ashish Reddy/Bipul Sharma/Karn Sharma, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Barinder Sran 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Ashish Nehra
Gujarat Lions : 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Suresh Raina(capt), 4 Dinesh Karthik(wk), 5 Ishan Kishan/Akshdeep Nath, 6 Ravindra Jadeja ,7 Dwayne Bravo/Dwayne Smith, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Shivil Kaushik
Match Conditions
Pre-monsoon rains have started in Hyderabad, and while it’s a relief for everyone and have made the summer tolerable, there is a risk that tomorrow’s match could get affected. The pitch is a high scoring one and should assist bowlers.
Watch Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Gujarat Lions at 8:00 pm Friday, LIVE on Sony Six!
