Rayadu, Bravo-bolstered CSK ready to take on buoyant SRH

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Having bounced back with a win in their last match after having lost the first two ties, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will look to build on their winning momentum with a victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their bottom-of-the-table clash on Friday.

Hyderabad managed to halt the juggernaut of a rampant Delhi Capitals (DC) when they beat the North India-based franchise by 15 runs.

Hyderabad have been fortified by the return of New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson, whose impact was evident in their first match.

The Kiwi added more firepower to the batting, which helped to consolidate their middle-order, which otherwise does not look impressive. He scored a very vital 45 off 26 balls to propel their score to a fighting 162/4 -- their highest in the tournament so far in 2020 that too against the most formidable bowling attack in the tournament.

In their previous two matches, Hyderabad’s scores were 153 and 142/4 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) respectively.

Hyderabad don’t have much depth in their batting line-up. Most of their batting revolves around openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, but the arrival of Williamson has beefed up their batting.

Warner and Bairstow were seen playing their shots without having to bother much about the middle-order after Williamson’s arrival.

Bairstow scored a fifty while Warner smacked 43, adding 77 for the opening wicket and lay down a foundation for a fighting total.

Afghanistan’s wily spinner Rashid Khan will lead the bowling attack. He returned with figures of 3-14 to steer his team to their first win of the season.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar also bowled pretty well, claiming two wickets for 25. He is likely to be supported by T Natarajan.

Meanwhile, Chennai will also look to bounce back after a disappointing start in the tournament. They had a one-week long break since their last match.

They too have been bolstered by the return of Ambati Rayudu and Caribbean all-rounder Dwayne Bravo. Rayudu missed the last match after picking up an injury in their opening tie against Mumbai during which he scored a quick-fire 48-ball 71 against the reigning champions. Bravo will also be available for selection after missing all three games so far in the tournament while nursing a niggle.

“They are available for selection, so their experience within the squad is going to be important,” said CSK coach Stephen Fleming in a virtual conference ahead of the match.

Chennai, whose start has not been impressive, will return to action after a welcome gap of six days. They will play their next four matches at the same venue – Dubai. Fleming described the return of the ace players into the fold as a welcome headache for the squad’s think-tank.

“That would be a good headache for us to have as we’re looking forward to introducing new players and also get our best combination back for the rest of the tournament,” Fleming had previously said about Bravo’s return.

Bravo’s addition can add a new dimension to any team with his skilled batting and bowling. He is a death overs specialist and a utility batsman. Bravo became the first bowler to take 500 wickets in T20 cricket during the recently-concluded Caribbean Premier League. The 36-year-old medium-pacer has also said he has developed a new slower delivery that he will be using during IPL-13.

Chennai, runners-up last year, are the most consistent team in IPL history, having qualified for the playoffs in all their previous 10 seasons, reaching the final eight times and having won the title thrice.

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (captain/wicket-keeper), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Francois Du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, KM Asif, Narayan Jagadeesan, Monu Kumar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, R Sai Kishore, Josh Hazlewood, Sam Curran

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Fabian Allen, Jonny Bairstow, Basil Thampi, Priyam Garg, Shreevats Goswami,

Jason Holder, Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Shahbaz Nadeem, T Natarajan, Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan, Wriddhiman Saha, Bavanaka Sandeep, Sandeep Sharma, Sanjay Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Billy Stanlake, Virat Singh, Kane Williamson