A hard-battled prevail upon Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) keep their swoon any desires for qualification into the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs alive on Thursday. With each game an unquestionable requirement win, Rajasthan next face the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) test, a thrashing against whom would be deadly to their campaign.
The Royals have a big task at hand in replacing some of their first-choice overseas players, as the likes of Jos Buttler, Newly crowned skipper Steve Smith, meanwhile, is set to leave the team soon to line-up with his Australian national team players for the pre-World Cup camp on May 2.
The Sunrisers, in the mean time, would be without the services of Jonny Bairstow while David Warner is likewise booked to depart in the coming days. While the straight on details are stacked for SRH, RR haven’t been as simple to defeat at home yet the mass migration of players will undoubtedly test their bench strength to the maximum.
Kane Williamson has returned to the SRH burrow after attending his grandmother’s funeral. As he leads the Sunrisers against the Royals on Saturday, it would be the first instance since 14 May 2017 that both the teams in an IPL experience are being led by abroad captains (with Steve Smith driving RR).
Here’s a look at some of the significant statics that would come into picture as Rajasthan Royals have Sunrisers Hyderabad:
- A total of 10 matches have been played between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, with the last side winning 6 to the previous’ four.
- When it comes to Jaipur, just two matches have been played at the venue with the two groups winning one game apiece.
- With regards to this particular fixture, Ajinkya Rahane has scored most number of keeps running with 308 while David Warner has sacked most runs from SRH against RR with 152.
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar remains the most successful bowler with 9 wickets against Rajasthan while Dhawal Kulkarni has struck four times for RR against Hyderabad.
- David Warner is on the cusp of breaking Virender Sehwag and Jos Buttler’s record of most consecutive half-centuries in IPL. He is one shy of six.
- The last five matches at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium have been won by the team batting second.
