*SRH VS LSG MATCH 58- PREVIEW*
*THE BUILD UP:*
What is it like to form a formidable side that is balanced on paper and yet lose games? Ask the Sunrisers but even they will be short on responses. Such has been the story of Hyderabad this season. After completing a successful auction, no one would have expected them to be struggling at this stage and being on the brink of elimination but fast forward to today, some poor management calls and downright wayward tactics have been their undoing. However, they have LSG to come up against today in a day game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, a team that began on a very positive note winning 4/6 but ever since that point, they have lost steam and haven’t been able to be at their dominant best. Losing skipper KL Rahul has also added to their already woeful form offlate as the Krunal led unit are now winless from their last four games., including one no result and three disappointing losses.
*SRH PROBABLE XI:*
Abhishek Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Glenn Phillips, Heinrich Klaasen, Abdul Samad, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Mayank Markande
With their middle order packed with RHBs, Abhishek Sharma will have added responsibility to not just play attacking cricket but also stay till the death overs so that his team isn’t exposed by the lack of left handedness, something that was pretty evident the last time these two sides clashed.
Bhuvi vs QDK could be an interesting battle with the former been successful at keeping the attacking left handed batter quite all this while in the IPL. A wicket in the swing bowler’s name to this economical form could prove to be an icing on the cake.
*IMPACT PLAYER STRATEGY:*
T Natarajan is likely to be used as the impact substitute if SRH bowl second. Tripathi to play the same role if they bat second. Natarajan with his death bowling stocks this IPL could be the tough puzzle to crack today for LSG, specially with what he offers to the side.
*LSG PROBABLE XI:*
Quinton Dekock(wk), Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, K Gowtham, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan
On a surface that is expected to be a tad slow with the heat factor, the LSG spin trio could come to the fore and be the game changing factor. Expect Krunal to also have a big say in this game specially with him likely to bowl in the powerplay as well. The spinners are expected to dominate this game with the relatively bigger boundaries here also coming into play.
LSG have a heavy batting lineup but they tend to not bat according to their potential. A sensible batting approach could see them through the tough periods and wrack up big totals. It is this very quality that needs to be embedded in to win games, starting from today. With the absence of KL, one player has to adorn the anchor’s role and be the damage control.
*IMPACT PLAYER STRATEGY:*
Amit Mishra to come in as the impact substitute with Badoni playing a similar role if they bat second.
*MY PREDICTIONS FOR THIS GAME:*
*FOR SRH:*
Highest run getter- Aiden Markram/Abhishek Sharma
Highest wicket taker- Marco Jansen/Mayank Markande
*FOR LSG:*
Highest run getter- Marcus Stoinis/Kyle Mayers
Highest wicket taker- Ravi Bishnoi/Amit Mishra
*FOR THE GAME:*
SRH to win