What

Rising Pune Supergiant will re-join the pack after a five-day break when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 24 of VIVO IPL 2017.

RPS have two wins – the most recent of them against Royal Challengers Bangalore before the break – from five matches. It hasn’t been the smoothest of starts for RPS, but the players should be recharged and refreshed now having had a day or two away from the game; the captain Steven Smith had a brief holiday in Dubai, while a few other players had the opportunity to catch up with their families before getting together two days before the match. The bowling attack presents the major worry to the team management; the bowlers have gone at nearly nine runs an over, and have been particularly expensive at the death. One hopes the RPS captain, along with the team management, would have sat down during the break and worked out strategies to plug the leaking of runs early on and at the back end.

Sunrisers Hyderabad have four wins from six matches. David Warner’s side look a well-balanced team on paper, have looked a formidable side on the field and have played like defending champions; the team must be buoyed by the thrilling wins in their last two matches. Sunrisers have not won a match on the road this season, and they will be keen to fix that anomaly in this match.

When

22 April 2017, 1600 Hrs IST

Where

MCA Stadium, Pune

The Protagonists

There is plenty of quality in the RPS batting line-up; yet the team will be best served if one of captain Steven Smith or Ajinkya Rahane bats long and makes a big score. The bowling attack presents a bit of a worry, but if the bowlers are able to replicate their performance from the match against RCB, RPS will find themselves in a very good position.

In David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson – who scored a fluent half-century in his first outing this season, Sunrisers Hyderabad have three batsmen who are among the runs. However, Warner will be the most valuable wicket in SRH line-up; the captain is among the top run-getters this season, and if he gets going, he can run away with the game.

On the bowling front, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been spectacular – especially while bowling at the death. He is the top wicket-taker this season – with 15 scalps; the seamer has an economy rate of 5.50 while bowling in the powerplay and an economy rate of 6.18 while bowling at the death.

Match within the match

The contest between the two Australians promises to be interesting; Steven Smith is the Australian captain, while David Warner is his deputy in the Australian team. Both players believe in leading by example and have been in good form in recent times. It will be interesting to see which of the two players has the larger impact in the game.

Also keep an eye on the two leg-spinners – SRH’s Rashid Khan and RPS’ Imran Tahir. It will be interesting to see how Rashid bounces back after gong wicket-less in the previous match. Tahir is the world’s top-ranked bowler in T20s, and he certainly will want to fare better than the teenager in the opposite camp.

Head to Head

Overall: Matches played – 2, Rising Pune Supergiant Won – 1, Sunrisers Hyderabad Won – 1

Trivia

The average first innings total in matches starting at 4pm stands at 159. Teams chasing have 5 of these 6 matches.

The overall economy rate of quick bowlers in the two matches at Pune stands at 9.60. In contrast, the economy rate of spinners reads 7.42.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has picked up 10 of his 15 wickets this season while bowling the death overs.

What Next

For Rising Pune Supergiant: Return Fixture against Mumbai Indians, April 24.

For Sunrisers Hyderabad: Return Fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore, April 25