The defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad got off to a superb start in IPL 2017 season as they defeated last year's finalist Royal Challengers Bangalore. Now, they are set to face off Gujarat Lions at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad are the clear favourites against the Gujarat Lions and after a strong showing from Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques and Ben Cutting in the last match, they will be expected to pick up a win in their home stadium.
Also read: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Gujarat Lions team news
Despite being tagged as the favourites in this match, Hyderabad coach Tom Moody said he is not reading too much into Gujarat Lions loss in the previous game and instead he was concentrating on improving his own team's game. He also said Mustafizur Rahman is expected to be available for the match in Mumbai on April 12.
"We got to remember that Gujarat Lions were the finalists last year. I don't read too much into one loss they have had, and read too much into the first victory we have had. The most important thing is continue to do the things very well and look at areas where we can improve," News 18 quotes Moody as saying.
"Ideally we want to keep some sort of continuity in the final XI but I think what we will do is continue to try to pick the best players for the opponents we come across and also the conditions. He (Rahman) is more than likely to be available for our match in Mumbai."
The Gujarat Lions, captained by Suresh Raina, are going into this match on the back of a humiliating loss in their opening match of this season. They were up against Kolkata Knight Riders and despite putting up a huge total of 183, their whole bowling unit crumbled as Kolkata's opening pair, Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn, breezed to victory with five overs to spare.
Raina said one of main reason they suffered such a horrible defeat was because they missed the presence of two of their most important players in Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo.
"I think 180 still was a good total. We did not bowl well in the first six overs. The bowling was not experienced and it is a learning curve. They played really good cricket shots. We need to learn from here," Raina said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
"We missed the experience of Jadeja and Bravo. Jadeja has done really well in T20 format. When you are not bowling well upfront, you need experience, someone like Bravo in the middle. Dinesh batted really well, he had a good first-class season. Still we have batting depth in the team," NDTV sports quoted Raina as saying.
A number of changes are expected in Gujarat Lions team, especially in the bowling department with Australian bowler James Faulkner likely to get a start in this match.
Where to watch
The IPL match between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Gujarat Lions is set to start at 4 pm IST and 10.30 am GMT.
TV and Live streaming information
India: TV: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD (Tamil, Telugu, Bengali), Sony Max (Hindi). Live Streaming: Hotstar.
International: Live Streaming: Cricketgateway.
USA: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 3. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
Middle East: TV: OSN Sports Cricket HD. Live Streaming: OSN Play.
South Africa: TV: SuperSport Two. Live Streaming: SuperSport Live Video.
