After a relatively easy outing in their Pepsi IPl opener, debutants Sunrisers Hyderabad face a sterner test as they take on a star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore here on Sunday.
Both Sunrisers and RCB are high on confidence going into the match after tasting victories in their tournament openers. While Hyderabad, who are back in the IPl with a new name, defeated last year’s laggards Pune Warriors by 22 runs in a low-scoring match on Friday night, the Bangalore side eked out a two-run win over mighty Mumbai Indians in their first game.
Resold and slightly repackaged, the Hyderabad outfit, however, has some thinking to do ahead of tomorrow’s match as there lies several question marks over its batting department.
The untimely injuries to Shikhar Dhawan, who knocked up the fastest Test century on debut against Australia last month, and J P Duminy had jolted the outfit’s batting unit. And it was quite evidently visible against Pune Warriors as the Sunrisers could only manage 126 for six.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara, Parthiv Patel, Cameron White, Thisara Perera all got starts but failed to convert them into big scores.
But come Sunday, the Sunrisers will have to put up a more determined batting effort if they desire to carry on their winning run as in Chris Gayle, RCB possesses a batsman who can demolish any bowling attack on his day.
If batting is a weak link, bowling is Sunrisers strong point and they showcased a small demonstration of their strength by defending a small target against Pune Warriors.
The Sunrisers have a varied bowling attack. In world number one Dale Steyn, they have an ace up their sleeve who picked up three wickets against Pune last night.
Steyn was ably supported by lanky Ishant Sharma, Perera and leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who bagged the man-of-the-match award for his 3-19 spell.
RCB, on other hand, would fancy their chances against Hyderabad. In Gayle, skipper Virat Kohli, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Daniel Christian and A B de Villiers Bangalore has a potent batting unit. Riding on Gayle’s superb 58-ball 92-run knock, RCB evaded mediocrity to post a challenging total on the board against Mumbai Indians.
But their over-dependence on Gayle has been a nightmare for the team in the past and the likes of Kohli, Dilshan and de Villiers will be hoping to share the West Indian’s burden.
Gayle batted with one leg against Mumbai Indians after picking up a slight knee injury following a collision with Harbhajan Singh, but he is likely to be fit to play on Sunday.