Chase last gasp playoff berth
LEAVING IT LATE Defending champions are fourth in the points table but need to beat Gujarat Lions to be on safe ground
A heavy wind caused disruption at the Green Park stadium on Friday evening and forced defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad to halt their training for a while as nets around the training pitch was sent flying ahead of their Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against ‘hosts’ Gujarat Lions.
But it didn’t disturb Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner and his men, who were focused on their training as they know a win against the already eliminated Gujarat Lions on Saturday would put them through to the play-offs of the IPL-10. Thus, they didn’t want to miss training for even a few minutes.
After suffering a defeat at the hands of Delhi Daredevils on Wednesday,
Suresh Raina and Co too would love to finish on a winning note, and will leave no stone unturned in playing party poopers to Sunrisers.
It is a do-or-die situation for the holders, who are currently fourth in the points table, and everything depends on Saturday’s encounter. Sunrisers are being chased by Kings XI Punjab, who are one point behind.
Studded with local players, including Raina, Gujarat Lions would again be banking on their track record at this ground, where they have won two matches out of three.
Their experience of the last match at this venue against Delhi Daredevils, which they lost by two wickets with two balls to spare on Wednesday, would count much and key batsmen like Ishan Kishan, Dwayne Smith and Aaron Finch have to come up with their best one last time.
A win would help Sunrisers seal their place in the top four of the points table, joining Mumbai Indians, who are already through. What they need to do in the match against Gujarat Lions is repeat the all-round performance they produced against tabletoppers Mumbai Indians in their previous encounter on their home ground.
Even in a day game, the centre wicket of the Green Park stadium would be helpful to bat early on. Light rolling on Friday afternoon Shikhar Dhawan needs just 12 runs to become the seventh Indian to complete 5000 runs in T20 cricket. Yuvraj Singh needs 21 runs to become the fifth batsman from Sunrisers Hyderabad to complete 500 runs in IPL.
was an indication that the wicket would be a batsman’s paradise.
Besides having hard-hitting batsmen led by David Warner, Sunrisers have the luxury of having Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson and Moises Henriques, apart from Yuvraj Singh, who hurt his little finger while fielding in the previous game.