CONFIDENT SRH EYE TO DEFEAT KKR
Return of Bhuvneshwar Kumar will strengthen SRH’S bowling attack, which already has the likes of Rashid Khan, Holder, and T. Natarajan.
With pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar back in their ranks, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the third match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday night.
The Hyderabad franchise, though more powerful and wellrounded and having qualified for play-offs last year, have an inferior head-to-head record against their Kolkata counterparts.
SRH have won just seven of the 19 encounters between them and have lost 12.
However, man to man in all departments, they look far stronger than Eoin Morgan’s KKR.
David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have put up several century partnerships for SRH. Bairstow has been in great form and is already warmed up after success in the recent limited-overs series against India. The return of India pace bowler Bhuvneshwar will strengthen their bowling attack, which already has the likes of Rashid Khan, Jason Holder, and T Natarajan.
Bhuvneshwar missed a part of last year’s IPL due to an injury. The SRH pace attack, as well as spin attack, will be a challenge for KKR who struggled with their batting in the last IPL season in the UAE.
KKR’S hard-hitting all-rounder Andre Russell failed to get going with the bat and that had a massive impact on their batting.
A lot will depend on skipper Eoin Morgan, batsmen Shakib Al Hasan and Shubman Gill as well as Russell if KKR are to score big in the first match of the tournament against a strong SRH bowling line-up.
KKR’S strongest point is their bowling, especially the spin bowling attack. They have also included Harbhajan Singh to Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, and Shakib.
Pat Cummins will lead their bowling and Russell mixes the deliveries well. It is their batting though which will have to rise to the occasion.
SRH Squad: David Warner (captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jonny Bairstow (wicket-keeper), Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Jason Roy, Jason Holder, Priyam Garg, Virat Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Mujeeb ur Rehman, J Suchith KKR Squad: Shubman Gill, , Tim Seifert (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Eoin Morgan (captain), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, , Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting.
JOHANNESBURG: Mohammad Hafeez on Saturday added another feather to his illustrious cap as he became the second Pakistan cricketer and sixth overall to play 100 T20IS.
Hafeez achieved the feat in the first T20I against South Africa when he stepped onto the field as the Proteas won the toss and opted to bat first at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday. Hafeez, 40, joined the exclusive club of Shoaib Malik (116), Rohit Sharma (111), Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan, and Ross Taylor (102) who have appeared in 100 or more T20IS since the inception of the shortest format of the game in February 2005.
Hafeez featured in Pakistan’s first-ever T20I in August 2006 in Bristol and scored 46 in Pakistan’s five-wicket victory over England.
Interestingly, Hafeez’s 50th appearance was also at the Wanderers Stadium against South Africa in November 2013 when he as captain took two for 25 and scored 13 not out as the hosts beat Pakistan by four runs in a rain-shortened match.
If he scores at least 13 runs in Saturday’s game, Hafeez will leapfrog Shoaib as Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in T20IS.