The 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is down to the last three teams and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) await the winner of Qualifier 2 between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the title clash in Chennai on Sunday. The last time SRH and RR met in the tournament was back on May 2 and that one-run defeat derailed the campaign of the Sanju Samson-led unit.
Looking certain for a top-two finish, RR kept slipping in the second half of the tournament and four consecutive defeats robbed them of two shots at reaching the final. The winless run finally ended when it mattered the most and RR got the better of high-flying Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
SRH on the other hand are fresh from an eight-wicket defeat in Qualifier 1 and they were completely outplayed by KKR in that fixture. They failed to get the explosive start, which has become the new normal for them, and were bundled out for 159 – a total which was gunned down by KKR in just 13.4 overs. It has been that kind of season for SRH. It has been that kind of season for SRH.
Except for the opening game, which they lost by just four runs, the other five defeats have been very heavy, and it’s quite normal because of the high-risk approach they have had in the tournament. It now remains to be seen whether they persist with it or keep a Plan B handy for the knockout fixture.
What: RR vs SRH, IPL 2024 Qualifier 2
Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
When: May 24, Thursday
Time: Toss at 19:00 hrs, Play starts at 19:30 hrs
Team News:
RR:
Sanju finally got the result he wanted and it came in the knockout clash against RCB. Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring runs and Riyan Parag continuing with his consistency were big positives from the win but the biggest takeaway was R Ashwin’s control in the middle overs. The experienced offie picked two big wickets – Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green – and gave away only 19 runs in his four overs.
RR have mostly used only five specialist bowlers this season and with Yuzvendra Chahal not at his best, Ashwin’s consistency in the last few games augurs well for the side. The runs to chase weren’t that threatening vs RCB but RR need to get their opening act right if they have to go all the way in the tournament. In the absence of Jos Buttler, Tom Kohler-Cadmore is partnering Jaiswal at the top of the order and the duo need to give the side a fluent start.
There is a lot of experience in the bowling department and it’s just about the batting clicking as a unit. The ongoing season has been Samson’s best till date but even he has had disappointing outings in the last five fixtures. If they fire in unison, it will be very difficult to stop them!
SRH:
Pat Cummins & Co. were outplayed in all departments in Qualifier 1 and Travis Head’s back-to-back failures will be a cause of worry for the side. In the last two games, left-arm seamers have castled the belligerent opener and he will be facing Trent Boult in Chennai tomorrow.
Rahul Tripathi has played a couple of good hands in SRH’s last two fixtures and his fluency at No.3 is going to be very crucial for the side. The script, however, is likely to be the same and SRH openers Head and Abhishek Sharma will come hard at the opposition and look to give the side another flying start.
But if it doesn’t happen, SRH must have a Plan B for the high-pressure clash. The middle-order needs to be ready for any kind of situation and the onus will be on Heinrich Klaasen to guide the younger lot during that period.
Squads
SRH: Pat Cummins (c), Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Sanvir Singh, Heinrich Klaasen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal, T. Natarajan, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Markande, Upendra Singh Yadav, Umran Malik, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Travis Head, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Jhathavedh Subramanyan.
RR: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa (withdrawn), Prasidh Krishna (injured), Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian (replacement for Adam Zampa), Keshav Maharaj (replacement for Prasidh Krishna)
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