Sunrisers Hyderabad seeks perfect chase against Royals

HYDERABAD: An erratic Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to fix its chasing troubles and get its campaign back on track when it hosts the high-flying Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.

A lot more is at stake for the Sunrisers than the Royals, which has virtually qualified for the playoffs.

In ominous form till a few days ago, SRH dropped out of the top four on the points table after suffering back-to-back losses against wooden spooners Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings where it failed to chase down totals.

With five wins and four losses, the 2016 champion sits on the fifth spot with 10 points.

The Pat

Cummins-led side’s top and middle-order batters have failed collectively while chasing, forcing head coach Daniel

Vettori to admit that the idea of going all out with the bat in the second innings might not be the right thing to do.

SRH has breached the 250-run mark thrice this season but all while batting first. In contrast, it hasn’t managed to chase a total in excess of 200 even once.

“We have been successful setting totals and now we have to look at how well we are in chasing,” head coach Vettori had conceded after the loss to RCB. “We’re pretty well-suited to chasing, but it hasn’t really come off yet. So yeah, it is something (we need) to work on,” skipper Cummins had said after he loss to CSK.

SRH is too dependent on the explosive starts provided by Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma. And, while the duo gets going it’s great but when they flop, SRH will want to do a better job at re-building its innings. It’s also about time Aiden Markram stepped up and justified his spot in the playing XI, having had an underwhelming season thus far.

Runaway leader Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, will look to continue its near flawless run. The inaugural edition’s champion has shown it is perfectly equipped to compete anywhere. It is perched atop the table with 16 points -- four points ahead of second placed Kolkata Knight Riders. It is all but through to the knockout stage.

The Royals boasts of a formidable top order, comprising Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and skipper Sanju Samson, with all three of them in good nick.

The West Indian duo of Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell and youngsters Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel have also shown they can hit top gear.

It has an equally potent bowling attack comprising Yuzvendra Chahal, the experienced Trent Boult, Avesh Khan and Sandeep Sharma.

SRH’S Heinrich Klaasen and RR’s Jos Buttler