The Royals, despite illness and a decline in form, lost four games on the bounce, ending Royal Challengers Bangalore’s maiden trophy rally in the eliminator.
Inspired by the ‘law of averages’ going in their favour, Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be eyeing a second final in three years when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the second Qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. At the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
The Royals, despite illness and a decline in form, lost four games on the bounce, ending Royal Challengers Bangalore’s maiden trophy rally in the eliminator.
Sunrisers, on the other hand, would like to move on from their defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders in the first qualifier.
Such was Sunrisers’ reliance on the early attack of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head that a rare failure against KKR put its middle-order game in trouble.
The Royals will be hoping that Trent Boult can emulate how Arshdeep Singh and Mitchell Starc rearranged the head of the stumps in Sunrisers’ last two matches. Head has scored more than 192 strikes against left-arm fast bowlers but has also been vulnerable and has fallen four times in 11 innings in the IPL.
R. Ashwin has claimed four wickets this season for left-handed batsmen and could be an attractive opportunity to turn the tables in the powerplay. However, considering his economy of 8.31 in IPL 2024, Sanju Samson will probably want to continue using him in a key role in the middle overs.
The ray of hope for SRH after the loss to KKR was the form of Rahul Tripathi. Tripathi, who has been confined to the bench for most of this season, scored 55 off 35 balls in the first Qualifier and will be a useful reinforcement for Heinrich Klaasen in the middle.
Klaasen will again have an impressive impact, especially against Yuzvendra Chahal, RR’s top wicket-taker this year. The South African has scored 108 runs on 46 balls against the leg spinner in seven T20 matches.
Leaders of the opposing camp will also be under investigation. The slow nature of the Chepauk Strip will be welcomed by the spin line-up, which averages 54 this IPL, the worst among the 10 teams.
SRH have used 11 spinners for the meager returns of 13 wickets in IPL 2024, the least by any team.
Mayank Markandey, who last played against RCB about a month ago, has an economy rate of less than seven against right-handed batsmen in the IPL and could replace Vijayakanth Vyaskanth. Aiden Markram’s part-time off-spin, along with his batting, may be a better use of the overseas slot.
For RR, Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell’s contributions to the lower middle order in the eliminator augur well for a batting unit that otherwise looked to Samson and Riyan Parag for answers.
Powell, in particular, will have a score to settle after his error off a full toss handed a one-run win to SRH in their last contest.
RR could also do with Yashasvi Jaiswal putting a price on his wicket. The left-hander has been guilty of heedlessly giving his wicket away, his dismissal against Cameron Green in the last match being a case in point.
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