Sharjah: Virtually out of the play-off race, bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will hope to keep their new-found momentum intact when they face table toppers Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their IPL-2021 encounter, here Thursday. Kane Williamson led from the front with an unbeaten half-century to help SRH return to winning ways after five losses on the trot. It lifted the morale of the side as they have suffered eight losses from 10 matches.
The biggest decision for Williamson-led think tank has been to drop their big hitting opener David Warner, who aggregated just 181 runs at an average of 24.37. It can be safely said that Warner has already played his last match in this edition of the IPL.
With speculation rife about the Aussie’s future at his favourite franchise Hyderabad, the onus would be on the Kiwi skipper to revive the fortunes of the Orange Army.
English opener Jason Roy seized the opportunity on his debut to set up victory with a quick 60 before Williamson sealed the challenging chase of 165 with nine balls to spare against Rajasthan Royals.
The bowling trio of Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jason Holder also performed at the death for SRH. They did not concede a boundary in the last 17 balls and also dismissed the dangerman Sanju Samson in the final over to contribute to their first win in five months.
For a side that relies heavily on their overseas recruits, the onus will be on the likes of Wriddhiman Saha and Priyam Garg to step up.
“We can say the performance was improved. There was clarity in roles to, want to build on this, want to see the younger players take their opportunity and enjoy the cricket,” Williamson had said after their seven-wicket win.
The MS Dhoni-led CSK on the other hand are coming on the back of a hat-trick of wins and have virtually sealed their play-off chances. Their only worry is the form of their skipper Dhoni who is yet to fire in the second phases of IPL-2021.
Ravindra Jadeja once again proved to be their game-changer on Sunday as his eight-ball 22 runs cameo pulled off last ball two-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders. The duo of South African great Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad have shown great chemistry up front while the likes of Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu form the core of their batting.
The bowling department may look to be their weak link as it remains to be seen if Hyderabad is able to capitalise on it. West Indian star all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was rested against Kolkata as it would be no surprise if he returns to the side in place of Sam Curran who leaked 56 runs from his four overs against KKR.