IPL has reached its business end now and is getting better and thrilling with each passing day. As Mumbai Indians is the only team to have sealed the playoff berth, the dream to reach the final four is still alive for Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rising Pune Supergiant and Kings XI Punjab.
For Gujarat Lions, they mostly need to play for pride, as they are already out of the tournament. On the other hand, it’s a do or die match for the Hyderabad, as they need to seal their spot in the playoffs.
In their last match, the Lions had locked horns with Delhi but lost the encounter. In the match, the Lions started poorly with the bat as Dwayne Smith got out for a run-a-ball Eight.
In the Lions’ win over the Kings XI Punjab in their previous match, it was Smith’s 74 that allowed them to claim victory. There was a bright and breezy 34 from Ishan Kishan, but when he was gone in the seventh over of the innings the Lions were in real danger.
With this kind of a scenario, the defending champions will need both Orange Cap holder, skipper David Warner, and the Purple Cap wearing Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, as well as all the others, to get their act together and push hard for a decisive win.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTER:
Sunrisers Hyderabad, the defending champions of Indian Premier League, took on Gujarat Lions in their second match of IPL 2017. After a 35-run win courtesy Moises Henriques and Yuvraj Singh against RCB, Henriques was once again up to the mark alongside skipper David Warner in the comfortable 9-wicket win over Gujarat Lions. Rashid Khan was player of the match with 3 wickets.
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
Head to head SRH and GL played only 2 matches so far. SRH won all the matches between them.
MATCH PREDICTION:
A win will make sure of Hyderabad’s place in the playoff. If they lose then they will have to wait for the other results to know their fate. With the bowling attack being led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and leg-spinner Rashid Khan; Hyderabad has always been strong with their bowling.
Apart from that, Warner’s knock is going to be crucial. Also, Gujarat will look for Dinesh Karthik and Raina’s performance as the key.
Jadeja will be crucial on the field for the team.
It can be anyone’s game, A good score of 185 to 190 must be chasable. So we can expect the team winning toss to chase the target especially SRH given they are under pressure.
If Hyderabad wins it they are off to playoff or else will have to wait for others to perform!