IPL 2021, SRH vs RR: Here is the match preview
The 40th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season will see Sunrisers Hyderabad face Rajasthan Royals in Dubai. After successive double headers over the weekend, Monday sees the IPL get back to one match. Bottom-placed SRH have been a mess this season with their batting. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals will need to bounce back from the defeat suffered against Delhi Capitals. Here's more.
Pitch report, timing and TV listing
Monday's encounter will be held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The track here has offered assistance to fast bowlers. Both teams have able resources with the ball and that promises to be interesting. The batters need to bide by time. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network (7:30 PM) and stream the same on the Hotstar app (paid subscription).
A look at the head-to-head record
SRH and RR have faced each other on 14 occasions in the IPL. Both teams have won seven games each. In the previous meeting this season, RR tamed SRH by 55 runs. They had scored 220/3 before restricting SRH to 165/8 in 20 overs. The last two seasons saw the teams share the spoils (one win each in 2019 and 2020).
SRH seem to be clueless at the moment
With just one win from nine matches, the Sunrisers have suffered big time this season. They have lost five games on the trot, including two in the UAE since IPL resumed on September 19. The batting is SRH's major worry and when you look at the side, one wonders where will the runs come from. However, they have a strong bowling unit.
Here are the top performers
RR skipper Sanju Samson is the third-highest scorer against SRH in the IPL. He has registered 533 runs in 17 matches at 41.00. Meanwhile, David Warner has accumulated 389 runs against RR at 32.41. In 12 matches against RR, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has claimed 12 wickets.
RR need to get past the line
RR tinkered with the playing XI against DC and the move failed. They could bring back Evin Lewis for Liam Livingstone and replace the struggling Riyan Parag with Shreyas Gopal. Chris Morris could be limited to the bench once again. Like SRH, the Royals have a good bowling unit but the batters are struggling. Once again, a lot depends on Sanju Samson.
A look at the probable XI of both teams
SRH probable XI: Kane Williamson (c), Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed RR probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Evin Lewis, Sanju Samson (c&wk), David Miller, Mahipal Lomror, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Tabraiz Shamsi, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman
