Hyderabad: The Eagles had been flying high for most part of the tournament, fiercely protecting their territory, until one slingshot from a puny Supergiant bowler in Jaydev Unadkat suddenly brought them down. Now, they find themselves in a tight corner. With two games to go, the Sunrisers are beginning to feel the heat. They must claw their way back into the game.
Two days after their impressive winning streak at home was snapped by Pune Supergiant, they face another giant of a side in Mumbai Indians. Rohit Sharma’s Blues are in good rhythm having shaken, rattled and rolled their rivals of late.
The crushing 146-run win over Delhi Daredevils the other day would have made them blood-thirsty as they sit atop the points table as the first team to qualify for the playoffs.
That just might be the area for the hosts to capitalise on. Maybe Mumbai will rest a few players in preparation for Stage 2 of the tournament. Maybe they’d go full throttle in an attempt to gain psychological advantage. The hosts would hope the law of averages catches up with the visitors and normalcy will be restored at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Monday night.
Captain David Warner has been doing everything he can for SRH. He leads the batting charts — most runs, most sixes and the highest score. Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson and Yuvraj Singh have rallied around him though but in fits and starts. Consistency is the key, especially when you’re up against an incisive attack that comprises Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan and Harbhajan Singh.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has carried the bowling burden for SRH and continues to lead the list of wicket-takers in the tournament. Spinner Rashid Khan has been an able partner with seamer Siddharth Kaul coming up with decent spells as well but the question is whether they would be able to contain the cannons — Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana and that pocket-sized dynamite Parthiv Patel? They have no option but to give it their very best shot.
