Sunrisers out to stop Pune’s rampaging run
Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim to stop rampaging Rising Pune Supergiant when they meet on Saturday in a bid to cement a place in the playoffs.
Pune are placed third in the points table with 14 points from 11 matches, having won six out of their last seven games.
Sunrisers, on the other hand, are in fourth position with 13 points from 11 games.
Pune came on top in their previous meeting against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, where rookie opener Rahul Tripathi produced a special knock of 93 off 52 balls to add to his impressive run in his maiden IPL.
The team has found great momentum at the business end of the tournament and seems to be peaking at the right time.
It was Tripathi’s singlehanded effort on Wednesday that led Pune to succeed against the formidable Kolkata side.
Come Saturday, Tripathi would be expected to repeat his dazzling performance against the Sunrisers.
Ben Stokes, IPL’s costliest buy, too proved his worth with the bat when he hit his maiden T20 century (103 off 63 balls) against Gujarat Lions.
The bowlers too have been performing their roles well. The disciplined bowling by pacer Jayadev Unadkat contributed in a big way to their side’s win against KKR. Washington Sundar too scalped two wickets in the match.
The Pune bowlers need to be at their best to rein in Sunrisers captain David Warner, who is the tournament’s leading scorer with 489 runs at 61.12.
Though Sunrisers have not been too successful in away matches, they are like a battleready army on their home turf. Warner had said his team would like to take full advantage of playing at home and turn the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Uppal into a virtual ‘fortress’.
“The thing here is that we are trying to turn this ground into our fortress. Every team tries to win as many games at home as they can,” said Warner, who enthralled everyone with his 59-ball 126 against the Knight Riders at the home ground earlier.
In addition to Warner, other Sunrisers batsmen – Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Moises Henriques -- have been in fine form.
Though in a lost cause, the seasoned Yuvraj Singh helped his side make a big total with his 70-run knock against Delhi Daredevils.