The Rajasthan Royals (RR) will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 36th match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Saturday. It will be their first meeting in the IPL.
Overview:
Both the teams are placed at the top half of the table, and are taking the field after conceding defeats in their respective previous matches.
RR are placed in the fourth position with eight points on the table after winning four of the seven matches played so far. They lost the last two matches, so they will be keen to get back to winning ways. A win on Saturday will not only boost their confidence but also push them to the third position on the table, overtaking SRH.
SRH are in the third position with 10 points after winning five of the eight matches played so far. They lost their previous match to Chennai Super Kings by five wickets. Interestingly, their Saturday's opponent, RR too were defeated by CSK by five wickets. SRH are above RR on the table at the moment but considering the number of matches played, other teams have every chance of overtaking them. So, they will be keen to win and add points on the table.
Previous Meetings:
RR and SRH are meeting for the first time in IPL. However, RR have played against the erstwhile Hyderabad franchise, Deccan Chargers nine times in the past and won on seven occasions.
Team News:
Rajasthan Royals: They conceded a seven-wicket defeat to CSK in the previous match despite putting up a huge total of 185 runs. But they will be happy that Shane Watson has announced his return with a century from just 61 balls. Stuart Binny also gave a sensible contribution, hitting 36 of 22 balls. Skipper Rahul Dravid is in form and other batsmen like Ajinkya Rahane, Dishant Yagnik and Brad Hodge can help the team amass big totals.
On the bowling front, RR have Kevon Cooper, Sreesanth, Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Shaun Tait and Stuart Binny. However, they have not performed well in the last couple of matches. Faulkner took three wickets in the previous match against CSK but the others were punished by opponents. They need to pull up their socks and restrict their opponents from scoring at will.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Skipper Kumar Sangakkara didn't play in the previous match, giving the responsibility leading the side to Cameron White. Shikhar Dhawan's knock of 63 from 45 balls helped the team to put up a total of 159 in the previous match against CSK but other batsmen from Cameron White to Quinton De Kock to Hanuma Vihari failed with the bats, thus conceding lost. Sangakkara is expected to lead the team on Saturday, which will give the team a big moral boost.
Their bowling line-up consisting of Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Thisara Perera and Darren Sammy can be intimidating to opponents but their lack of consistency can worry their think tanks. Mishra took three wickets in the previous match against CSK but other bowlers turned out to be expensive.
Prediction:
SRH have been impressive since the tournament began but RR not only have fighting spirit but also have home gorund advantage on Saturday. Rahul Dravid's men have better chance of winning IPL 36th match.
SQUADS:
Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan, Ashok Menaria, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Dishant Yagnik, Fidel Edwards, Harmeet Singh, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Kumar Boresha, Kushal Janith Perera, Owais Shah, Pravin Tambe, Rahul Shukla, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Sachin Baby, Samuel Badree, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Shreevats Goswami, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Vikramjeet Malik
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kumar Sangakkara (C), Akshath Reddy, Amit Mishra, Anand Rajan, Ankit Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Biplap Samantray, Cameron White, Chris Lynn, Dale Steyn, Darren Sammy, Dwaraka Ravi Teja, Hanuma Vihari, Ishant Sharma, Karan Sharma, Nathan McCullum, Parthiv Patel, Prasanth Padmanabhan, Quinton de Kock, Sachin Rana, Shikhar Dhawan, Sudeep Tyagi, Thalaivan Sargunam, Thisara Perera, Veer Pratap Singh
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 4:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
