SRH ready for KKR challenge
Back to winning ways, a resurgent Sunrisers Hyderabad will be forced to tinker their successful combination following Washington Sundar's injury as they face Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL here on Friday.
After a subdued start to the tournament, SRH turned things around with back-toback wins over Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans, and Kane Williamson's team is now eying a hat-trick of victories.
However Washington, a vital cog in the SRH wheels, will be missing in action after he sustained a split webbing on his bowling hand while fielding against GT.
Washington plays the duel role of restricting the batters with his spin bowling and chipping in with some runs as a floater. He has taken four wickets and scored a halfcentury so far in the season.
But coach Tom Moody has made it clear that he won't be available for at least two matches and it will be interesting to see who replaces the all-rounder in the XI.
Hyderabad have the option of Shreyas Gopal and Jagadeesha
Suchith in the spin department or they might give another chance to Abdul Samad, who looked ordinary in the first two matches.
For Sunrisers, it was the batting failure which was hurting them as they faltered in their first two chases, but the team addressed the problem with openers Abhishek Sharma and Williamson producing the goods in the last two outings.
If Sharma shone with match-winning knocks of 75 and 42, Williamson scored 32 and 57 to set up the chase in the last two games.
Rahul Tripathi was looking good against GT before he retired hurt following what seemed like a cramp, and his availability will be crucial for SRH.
In Tripathi's absence, Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram completed the job against GT and the team will expect them to show consistency and take the responsibility in the middle-order.
In bowling, Marco Jansen have taken a wicket each in the last two games, while his pace colleagues T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have contributed with crucial wickets.