IPL 2018 Final: Why Sunrisers Hyderabad will win title clash vs Chennai Super Kings

Mumbai: Sunrisers Hyderabad have had a mixed tournament so far. From winning six consecutive matches in the first half of the Indian Premier League (IPL), to going onto lose four back-to-back matches from there, Kane Williamson’s side have definitely been unpredictable.

Defending low totals, nine-wicket wins on two occasions, consistent Kane and Rashid Khan’s brilliance- These have been the top highlights of SRH so far this season.

Coming into the final match, SRH have lost to CSK during all their three encounters so far- twice during the league stage and once during the playoffs (in Qualifier 1).

However, they can take inspiration from what Mumbai Indians did last season.

MI had lost both the league encounters and their Qualifier 1 to Rising Pune Supergiant, but bounced back to clinch the title in a thriller by beating the same opponents by one run in the final.

If CSK has power-hitters like Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni among others, then SRH is known to have one of the best bowling attacks- Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Rashid Khan to name a few.

In fact Rashid is known for his all-round brilliance- taking wickets, playing a cameo role and taking stunning catches, like the one against Royal Challengers Bangalore earlier this season.

Another reason for SRH’s success has been the captain himself-Kane Williamson. Currently this year’s leading run-scorer (688 runs), the Kiwi batsman has already got eight fifties to his name.

As a result, there could be more to come from the New Zealander in the final here on Sunday. During SRH’s clash against CSK, however, Williamson’s 84 went in vain, but he would be hoping for a positive outcome when the crunch match takes place in the Maximum City on Sunday.

All in all, the IPL final promises to be a classic ‘South Indian Derby’ that could see a lot of turning points with a lot of ups and downs.