Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in the 2017 IPL, as the Delhi Daredevils saw any chance of a play-off berth evaporate. 

The victory see's Hyderabad secure their spot in the knockout phase of the competition, solidifying their place amongst the best sides.

Shikhar Dhawan led the successful run chase for the hosts after skipper David Warner was bowled out early.

The Indians had posted a modest score of 138 for seven, and Sunrisers made it a sixth win from seven with ten deliveries to spare.

Here are the latest standings:

Team	PL	W	L	D	N/R	PTS	Net RR
Mumbai Indians	12	9	3	0	0	18	+0.900
Kolkata Knight Riders	12	8	4	0	0	16	+0.858
Rising Pune Supergiant	12	8	4	0	0	16	-0.060
Sunrisers Hyderabad	13	7	5	0	1	15	+0.560
Kings XI Punjab	11	5	6	0	0	10	+0.242
Gujarat Lions	12	4	8	0	0	8	-0.369
Delhi Daredevils	11	4	7	0	0	8	-0.660
Royal Challengers Bangalore	13	2	10	0	1	5	-1.454

Here are the upcoming fixtures:

Date	Time	Fixture
Tuesday, May 9	3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. local time/10:30 a.m. ET	Kings XI Punjab vs. Kolkata Knight Riders
Wednesday, May 10	3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. local time/10:30 a.m. ET	Gujarat Lions vs. Delhi Daredevils
Thursday, May 11	3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. local time/10:30 a.m. ET	Mumbai Indians vs. Kings XI Punjab
Friday, May 12	3:30 p.m. BST/8 p.m. local time/10:30 a.m. ET	Delhi Daredevils vs. Rising Pune Supergiants

The disappointment on Warner's face was clear to see as he witnessed his wicket taken by Mitchell McClenaghan on just six runs, but the Australian superstar was smiling at the end as his team-mates performed with vigour.

Dhawan's wonderful form continued for the Sunrisers, smashing 62 runs off just 46 balls without losing his wicket.

The wicket was on the slower side, making it a good track for T20 cricket, and the hosts took advantage as Mumbai stuttered.

Rohit Sharma had rescued the Indians' score with a credible 67 from 45 deliveries, but it was not enough to deny the current champions.

Mumbai hoped to solidify their place at the top as the play-offs approach, but they should still comfortably make the elimination rounds.

Very little has gone according to plan for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL), where a combination of a poorly thought-out recruitment policy, the unexpected loss of form by several key players and an inability to beat their rivals at home all combined to see the franchise eliminated before the knockout phase of the competition.

In many ways, Hyderabad’s fate was partially sealed before a ball had even been bowled in anger in IPL 7 when the Sunrisers decided to recruit big-hitting Australia openers Aaron Finch and David Warner to be two of their quota of overseas players.

However, in hindsight, perhaps the franchise would have been better served splashing some of its cash on an established middle-order batsman instead of Finch, as that was the role the in-form Warner ended up being tasked with following a lack of runs from the key engine room of the team.

Meanwhile, as if to further compound matters at the top of the order, skipper Shikhar Dhawan was also finding runs so hard to come by that in the end, it was decided West Indies all-rounder Darren Sammy would take charge of the side in order to help the mustachioed opener rediscover his form.

And it was not just the batting department that misfired, though, but the bowling too, which was surprising, really, given the weapons Sunrisers had at their disposal, including the likes of Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma.

But both the South Africa paceman and the India leg-spinner had an IPL campaign they’d care to forget, something no one in fairness could accurately have predicted prior to the tournament, although in the former’s case perhaps it is not that much of a shock really when you consider Steyn’s recent workload.

The world’s No. 1-ranked Test bowler, who features in all three forms of the game for his country, played in every single one of his side’s league fixtures coming hot on the heels of a draining International Cricket Council World Twenty20 (T20) in Bangladesh in March.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDBdMZtftrI

All of which probably goes some way towards explaining just why Steyn was so ineffective and toothless throughout the competition, especially when the Proteas star switched to bowl on Indian pitches when he generally struggled to generate much pace or swing with the new ball.

In fact, it says all you really need to know about Steyn’s tournament that the fast bowler was taken for 20 or more runs in a single over on four separate occasions by AB de Villiers, MS Dhoni, George Bailey and Yusuf Pathan (see video).

However, it was not just Steyn who underperformed badly with the ball, but Mishra too, which was something of a major surprise given the leggie’s eye-catching displays for his country in the recent World T20 and in the IPL in general (where the tweaker has recorded three previous hat-tricks, do not forget).

Mishra’s economy rate shot up from a parsimonious 6.35 last year to 9.06 runs per over this time around, while the spinner also only managed to capture seven wickets in his 10 outings, six of which ended with the 31-year-old going wicketless.

Meanwhile, when you also throw in compatriot Ishant’s general ineffectiveness with the ball too, then it was only really Bhuvneshwar of the trio of experienced India international bowlers at the Sunrisers’ disposal who performed anywhere near his capability in the tournament, which, given their supposedly superior knowledge of subcontinental conditions, was a big factor in the franchise’s premature exit.

Consequently, when Hyderabad needed to put together a strong finish to their campaign after losing four times already by the halfway point, including three straight reverses on home soil, the Sunrisers just did not have enough players in form to bring about such a recovery.

And if Twenty20 cricket is in essence all about scoring mountains of runs and boundaries, then in the end, one damning statistic perhaps best sums up just why Hyderabad underachieved so badly in IPL 7: No other side hit fewer boundaries (239) or less runs in total (1,943) than the Sunrisers managed in the entire competition.

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With one game left in the regular season of the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL), Sunrisers Hyderabad sit in fifth place, just outside the play-off places.

To qualify for the IPL post-season, they need to beat the Kolkata Knight Riders in what will be the final game for both franchises and hope that the Rajasthan Royals lose both their remaining two matches.

Even then, net run rate will be the decider, and in that instance Rajasthan remain in the driving seat with Hyderabad well behind.

It will take a minor miracle for the Sunrisers to come through, but if they were able to pull out a victory and see results go their way, they could well be dark horses for the IPL title.

After some inconsistent displays, they seem to be coming into form at just the right time, having found a good combination of players and with several stars at their disposal.

In all, there may well still be plenty to play for in the IPL season for Hyderabad.

Form

Last time out against the Chennai Super Kings, openers David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan showed that they are both in good touch with superb innings in their victory.

Warner's 90 came in just 45 balls as he feasted on some loose bowling, while Dhawan's unbeaten 64 anchored the chase once the Australian had departed.

It has been a very successful IPL this year for Warner, who has scored 524 runs at an average of 52.40 in 13 innings and notched six half-centuries.

He has been a force to be reckoned with despite being shuttled around the batting order and spending much of his time at No. 4 as opposed to his preferred opening role.

Similarly, Dhawan also looks to be in good touch, with his innings against Chennai his second consecutive half-century at the top of the order.

He has been consistent—scoring a total of 348 runs at an average of 29.00—and has been useful in blunting the new ball and getting his side off to a solid start.

If both those players can maintain their good run, Hyderabad will be in a good position to build an imposing total with the bat, especially if players like Naman Ojha and Aaron Finch can shine as they have done in patches this year.

With the ball, Karn Sharma looked particularly impressive against Chennai as he took 2-19 from his four overs of leg-spin.

He has shown a great deal of ability in this year's IPL, and his display against the Super Kings shows that he may just be coming into form at the right time if they were to make the play-offs.

Coupled with the likes of Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Irfan Pathan, Hyderabad have a bowling attack that could inflict significant damage on any opponent.

Right Combination in Their Lineup

The swap of David Warner for Aaron Finch at the top of the order has also helped Hyderabad make far greater strides in recent games and suggest that they could still be a force this year.

Previously, Finch had struggled a little as an opener for the Sunrisers, with his top score of 68 coming against the Mumbai Indians but little else besides.

He may have shown himself to be enormously effective in Twenty20 internationals for Australia, but his tenure at the top of the order for Hyderabad was less than successful.

Meanwhile, David Warner continued to plunder runs at No. 4, and as a reward was promoted to open in place of Finch for the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

That ended in success for Hyderabad by the comfortable margin of seven wickets, with both Warner and partner Dhawan scoring half-centuries, and this pair will likely continue to open.

Further to this, there has been plenty of tweaking going on with the Sunrisers’ lineup, but now they seem to have settled on their best side.

Having seen a largely unsuccessful four games from Australian Moises Henriques, Hyderabad seem to have found the right players for their side, and in Darren Sammy have an all-rounder who is capable of turning a match in a very short space of time.

Momentum

Finally, Hyderabad may well find themselves as the team to beat in the play-offs simply due to the momentum they will have accumulated just by reaching that stage.

With players such as Steyn, Warner, Sammy and Finch as well as domestic stars such as Pathan, Kumar and Ojha, they have the squad to compete and will hope they can shake off their recent inconsistencies in the final stages.

Steyn in particular is a bowler who loves to rise to the big occasion, and there will be few bigger than this year than a possible semi-final clash in the IPL.

Were they to reach the play-offs, confidence would be high, especially as Rajasthan's results would have to fall in their favour.

It is a long shot, but with some top international players at their disposal, Hyderabad could well make a late charge for the IPL title.

A superb innings from David Warner kept alive Sunrisers Hyderabad's hopes of reaching the 2014 Indian Premier League play-offs.

The Australian opener smashed 90 off 45 balls as the visitors chased down 186 to beat Chennai with two balls to spare in Match 50 of the tournament at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi.

The Super Kings, who were already guaranteed their place in the final four, made 185-3 in their innings with David Hussey and captain MS Dhoni both making half-centuries.

Hyderabad won the toss and elected to field in a must-win match that saw the 2010 and 2011 champions make a fast start with opener Dwayne Smith smashing 47 off 28 balls with four maximums.

Karn Sharma trapped him lbw in the seventh over after earlier running out his opening partner Faf du Plessis. Sharma then dismissed Suresh Raina cheaply in his next over.

However, Hussey and Dhoni put on an unbeaten stand of 108 in 11.2 overs for the fourth wicket with the Australian finishing 50 not out off 33 balls and the skipper contributing 57 from 41.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
Dwayne Smith	lbw Karan Sharma	47	28	167.85	4	4
Francois du Plessis	run out (Karan Sharma)	19	11	172.72	4	0
Suresh Raina	c Aaron Finch b Karan Sharma	4	7	57.14	0	0
David Hussey	NOT OUT	50	33	151.51	5	2
MS Dhoni	NOT OUT	57	41	139.02	2	4
EXTRAS	(w 1, lb 7)	8
BOWLER	O	M	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	4	0	36	0	9.00	7
Dale Steyn	4	0	43	0	10.75	11
Karan Sharma	4	0	19	2	4.75	12
Parveez Rasool	4	0	35	0	8.75	5
Irfan Pathan	3	0	34	0	11.33	5
Darren Sammy	1	0	11	0	11.00	1

That total was soon looked to make meagre by Warner who crashed 12 fours and three maximums as he totally dominated an opening partnership of 116 with Shikhar Dhawan.

Warner played on in the 12th over, but the demoted skipper came to the fore as he finished unbeaten on 64 with his team winning by six wickets.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
David Warner	b John Hastings	90	45	200.00	12	3
Shikhar Dhawan	NOT OUT	64	50	128.00	4	2
Naman Ojha	c Pawan Negi b Suresh Raina	19	17	111.76	0	1
Aaron Finch	run out (Suresh Raina)	7	3	233.33	0	1
Darren Sammy	c Francois du Plessis b Ravindra Jadeja	0	3	0.00	0	0
Venugopal Rao	NOT OUT	4	1	400.00	1	0
EXTRAS	(nb 1, w 3, lb 1)	5
BOWLER	O	M	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Mohit Sharma	3	0	33	0	11.00	5
Ravichandran Ashwin	4	0	29	0	7.25	6
John Hastings	3	0	29	1	9.66	9
Ravindra Jadeja	3.4	0	42	1	11.45	5
Pawan Negi	4	0	38	0	9.50	3
Suresh Raina	2	0	17	1	8.50	5

Sunrisers Hyderabad move to 12 points and must win their final game against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday.

That game is only meaningful if Delhi beat Mumbai and Kings XI defeat Rajasthan on Friday. Then the Indians need to get the better of the Royals in Sunday’s final regular season game to force a three-way tie for the fourth and final play-off place which would then be decided on net run rate.

As the Indian Premier League (IPL) enters its final phase ahead of the playoffs, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders collide, both retaining viable hopes of reaching the postseason.

With the Knight Riders fourth in the table and Hyderabad fifth—just two points behind them—this game will be crucial for both teams’ aspirations.

Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

Date: Sunday, May 18

Start time: 3:30 p.m. BST

Live on: Sony Six, Star Sports HD, Star Sports 1 (India), ITV4 (United Kingdom), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN (UAE) SkyTV (New Zealand), Network Ten (Australia), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Sportsnet and Omni (Canada), Sports Max (West Indies), Geo Super (Pakistan), Starhub (Singapore).

Weather: According to Weather.com, it will be partly cloudy in Hyderabad but with high temperatures, which will peak at 41 degrees Celsius.

Overview

Sunrisers Hyderabad are just outside the playoff places and saw their charge dented last time out as they lost to Kings XI Punjab by six wickets.

Hyderabad batted first and reached an astonishing 205-5 from their 20 overs, thanks largely to an unbeaten 79 from Naman Ojha and 44 from David Warner.

Unfortunately, in reply, their bowlers were expensive and unable to gain any real penetration as Punjab waltzed to their target with six wickets and more than an over to spare.

Only Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Karn Sharma and Amit Mishra took wickets for Hyderabad.

The Sunrisers have also been dealt a blow in the personnel department, with Australian Aaron Finch now playing for Yorkshire in the NatWest T20 Blast competition.

Meanwhile, Kolkata had a more successful time of it in their latest match as they beat the Mumbai Indians by six wickets in Cuttack.

Mumbai batted first but were restricted to just 141-5 from their 20 overs, with Morne Morkel the pick of the bowlers with 2-35 from his four overs, supported by 1-18 from Sunil Narine.

In reply, it was very easy for Kolkata to reach their target as they were led home by a knock of 80 by opener Robin Uthappa.

With both teams chasing the playoffs at this late stage in the competition, this game should be an absorbing one for all concerned.

Team News

Sunrisers Hyderabad (from): Shikhar Dhawan (capt.), Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Naman Ojha, Karan Sharma, Parvez Rasool, KL Rahul, Venugopal Rao, Srikkanth Anirudha, Manpreet Juneja, Ricky Bhui, Amit Paunikar, P Parameswaran, Ashish Reddy, Chama Milind, Dale Steyn, Darren Sammy, David Warner, Moises Henriques, Jason Holder, Brendan Taylor.

Kolkata Knight Riders (from): Gautam Gambhir (capt.), Manvinder Bisla, Piyush Chawla, Pat Cummins, Debabrata Das, Jacques Kallis, Kuldeep Yadav, Chris Lynn, Sayan Mondal, Morne Morkel, Sunil Narine, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Veer Pratap Singh, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Robin Uthappa, Vinay Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav.

Key Players

Dale Steyn

South Africa’s premier seamer Steyn remains a fearsome prospect in all forms of cricket, especially Twenty20.

He will be determined to make an impact with the new and the old ball and restrict Kolkata’s batsmen.

Sunil Narine

Spinner Narine has been enormously successful during his IPL career and will be looking for more of the same here.

The West Indian remains a potent threat for the Knight Riders with his ability to turn the ball both ways immediately.

Shane Watson took a hat-trick on Thursday, but his Rajasthan Royals team went down by 32 runs to Sunrisers Hyderabad in Ahmedabad.

The Royals, who won the toss and elected to field, restricted the visitors to 134-9 in their 20 overs as the Australian native took the 13th IPL hat-trick in history and the second of 2014.

However, Watson made just 11 with the bat as Rajasthan were dismissed for 102 in 19.5 overs at the Sardar Patel Stadium.

Watson clean-bowled his opposite number Shikhar Dhawan for 33 with the last ball of the fourth over and then returned in the 17th over to have Moises Henriques caught at long-on and Karn Sharma caught behind in consecutive balls.

Sunrisers' lower order struggled with Amit Mishra involved in a comical run out at the third attempt.

Irfan Pathan, with an unbeaten run-a-ball 21, was the only batsman outside the top four to make it into double figures.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
Shikhar Dhawan	b Shane Watson	33	20	165.00	7	0
Aaron Finch	c Ajinkya Rahane b Rajat Bhatia	9	10	90.00	1	0
Lokesh Rahul	b Rajat Bhatia	18	18	100.00	2	0
Naman Ojha	b Rajat Bhatia	17	19	89.47	1	0
David Warner	st Sanju Samson b Pravin Tambe	6	7	85.71	0	0
Moises Henriques	c Ajinkya Rahane b Shane Watson	9	13	69.23	1	0
Irfan Pathan	NOT OUT	21	21	100.00	2	0
Karan Sharma	c Sanju Samson b Shane Watson	0	1	0.00	0	0
Dale Steyn	run out (Sanju Samson)	9	8	112.50	1	0
Amit Mishra	run out (Sanju Samson)	0	2	0.00	0	0
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	NOT OUT	0	1	0.00	0	0
EXTRAS	(w 2, b 5, lb 5)	12
BOWLER	O	M	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Kane Richardson	4	0	28	0	7.00	8
Dhawal Kulkarni	2	0	19	0	9.50	6
Shane Watson	2	0	13	3	6.50	7
James Faulkner	4	0	20	0	5.00	9
Rajat Bhatia	4	0	23	3	5.75	6
Pravin Tambe	4	0	21	1	5.25	7

However, their total soon looked a competitive one, as the hosts stuttered to 37-3 in the powerplay and then lost Watson in the first over after the lifting of the fielding restrictions.

A 37-run partnership between Stuart Binny and Steven Smith gave Rajasthan hope, but the latter was superbly run out by David Warner for 12, and the Australian became Dale Steyn’s second victim after making 22.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed James Faulkner, Rajat Bhatia and Kane Richardson in the 18th over to finish with 4-14 before Pathan sealed the victory with the penultimate delivery of the match.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
Ajinkya Rahane	c David Warner b Bhuvneshwar Kumar	0	3	0.00	0	0
Karun Nair	c Naman Ojha b Dale Steyn	12	9	133.33	3	0
Sanju Samson	b Karan Sharma	16	16	100.00	1	1
Shane Watson	c Naman Ojha b Moises Henriques	11	10	110.00	1	0
Stuart Binny	run out (David Warner)	12	19	63.15	0	0
Steve Smith	c Irfan Pathan b Dale Steyn	22	33	66.66	0	0
Rajat Bhatia	c David Warner b Bhuvneshwar Kumar	4	8	50.00	0	0
James Faulkner	c Aaron Finch b Bhuvneshwar Kumar	4	6	66.66	0	0
Kane Richardson	c & b Bhuvneshwar Kumar	1	2	50.00	0	0
Dhawal Kulkarni	NOT OUT	7	6	116.66	1	0
Pravin Tambe	c Dale Steyn b Irfan Pathan	3	7	42.85	0	0
EXTRAS	(w 5, b 4, lb 1)	10
BOWLER	O	M	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	4	0	14	4	3.50	17
Dale Steyn	4	0	31	2	7.75	11
Karan Sharma	4	0	20	1	5.00	6
Moises Henriques	2	0	11	1	5.50	5
Amit Mishra	4	0	13	0	3.25	13
Irfan Pathan	1.5	0	8	1	4.36	4

Rajasthan remain in third place in the standings after their third loss in eight games, while Hyderabad picked up their third victory and could even up their win-loss record by beating Delhi Daredevils on Saturday.

Mumbai's disastrous defence of their Indian Premier League title continued as they slipped to their fifth successive defeat to start the season.

In the 20th and final game of the tournament to be played in the United Arab Emirates, the Indians went down by 15 runs to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Hyderabad, powered by a 110-run third-wicket partnership between David Warner and Lokesh Rahul, made 172-5 in their 20 overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Mumbai could only manage 157-7 in their reply, despite a whirlwind 78 from Kieron Pollard.

Hyderabad were 44-2 at the end of the Powerplay after seeing potentially destructive openers Shikhar Dhawan and Aaron Finch dismissed by veteran seamer Zaheer Khan.

However, Australian Warner struck four sixes in his 51-ball 65 as he made his second half-century in three games before departing with 10 balls of the innings left.

Young Rahul, batting at four, worked the ball around in making 46 off 40 before he was removed in the final over.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
Aaron Finch	c Ben Dunk b Zaheer Khan	16	15	106.66	3	0
Shikhar Dhawan	c Harbhajan Singh b Zaheer Khan	6	6	100.00	1	0
Lokesh Rahul	c CM Gautam b Lasith Malinga	46	40	115.00	3	0
David Warner	c CM Gautam b Corey Anderson	65	51	127.45	1	4
Darren Sammy	c Kieron Pollard b Corey Anderson	10	4	250.00	1	1
Naman Ojha	NOT OUT	10	4	250.00	2	0
Irfan Pathan	NOT OUT	1	1	100.00	0	0
EXTRAS	(nb 1, w 12, lb 5)	18
BOWLER	O	M	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Zaheer Khan	4	0	26	2	6.50	8
Lasith Malinga	4	0	28	1	7.00	7
Pragyan Ojha	3	0	43	0	14.33	3
Harbhajan Singh	4	0	16	0	4.00	9
Kieron Pollard	4	0	36	0	9.00	3
Corey Anderson	1	0	18	2	18.00	3

In their reply, Mumbai slumped to 8-2 in the third over with captain Rohit Sharma and powerful New Zealander Corey Anderson both making just one.

Ben Dunk, the top scorer in the 2014 Big Bash League, replaced Michael Hussey at the top of the order but departed for 20 with just 32 on the board at the end of the Powerplay.

However, a partnership of 77 between Ambati Rayudu and Pollard gave Mumbai hope. The Indian was caught in the deep by Warner from Irfan Pathan's second ball for 35, but Trinidadian Pollard reached his first half-century of this year's tournament.

He then smashed 26 off the 17th over of the innings bowled by Amit Mishra. However, he faced just four balls in the next two overs and 20 was needed off Pathan's final over.

Pollard played on to the first delivery and went after hitting six maximums from 47 balls. With him went Mumbai's chances as Hyderabad moved to four points after their second win.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
Ben Dunk	b Darren Sammy	20	17	117.64	4	0
Rohit Sharma	b Bhuvneshwar Kumar	1	5	20.00	0	0
Corey Anderson	c Naman Ojha b Dale Steyn	1	8	12.50	0	0
Ambati Rayudu	c David Warner b Irfan Pathan	35	27	129.62	5	0
Kieron Pollard	b Irfan Pathan	78	48	162.50	3	6
Aditya Tare	c Naman Ojha b Dale Steyn	7	5	140.00	1	0
Harbhajan Singh	c Shikhar Dhawan b Bhuvneshwar Kumar	1	3	33.33	0	0
CM Gautam	NOT OUT	4	5	80.00	1	0
Zaheer Khan	NOT OUT	1	2	50.00	0	0
EXTRAS	(w 6, b 2, lb 1)	9
BOWLER	O	M	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Dale Steyn	4	0	20	2	5.00	15
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	4	0	17	2	4.25	16
Karan Sharma	4	0	33	0	8.25	8
Darren Sammy	2	0	20	1	10.00	2
Amit Mishra	4	0	54	0	13.50	5
Irfan Pathan	2	0	10	2	5.00	4

There is a rest day on Thursday before the tournament resumes with the first match on Indian soil as Chennai Super Kings face Kolkata Knight Riders.

One of this year’s form teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) faces one of the bottom sides as Sunrisers Hyderabad take on the Chennai Super Kings.

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Date: Sunday, April 27

Start time: 3:30 p.m. BST

Live on: Sony Six, Star Sports HD, Star Sports 1 (India), ITV4 (United Kingdom), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN (UAE) SkyTV (New Zealand), Network Ten (Australia), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Sportsnet and Omni (Canada), Sports Max (West Indies), Geo Super (Pakistan), Starhub (Singapore).

Weather: According to Weather.com, Sharjah should be mostly sunny with temperatures reaching a high of 38 degrees Celsius.

Overview

Sunrisers Hyderabad had been winless in the IPL until their latest match, when they were finally victorious over the Delhi Daredevils by just four runs.

Batting first, Hyderabad made 184-1 from their 20 overs, thanks in large part to 88 not out from Aaron Finch and an unbeaten 58 from his countryman David Warner.

In reply, the Daredevils put on 99 for the first wicket to give Sunrisers some nervous moments, but they were able to pull it back through Dale Steyn, Darren Sammy and Karn Sharma to take the victory.

Meanwhile, Chennai enjoyed a comfortable win over the Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in their last game.

Mumbai batted first, with the Super Kings doing well to restrict them to just 141-7 from their 20 overs, thanks in large part to 4-14 from four overs by Mohit Sharma.

In reply, Chennai rarely looked troubled as Brendon McCullum stroked an unbeaten 71 to take them home with an over to spare.

With both teams having earned differing victories previously, they will be keen to gather momentum in this game and make a move up the points table.

Team News

Sunrisers Hyderabad (from): Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Naman Ojha, Karan Sharma, Parvez Rasool, KL Rahul, Venugopal Rao, S Anirudha, Manpreet Juneja, Ricky Bhui, Amit Paunikar, P Parameswaran, Ashish Reddy, Chama Milind, Dale Steyn, Darren Sammy, David Warner, Aaron Finch, Moises Henriques, Jason Holder, Brendan Taylor

Chennai Super Kings (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Faf du Plessis, Mithun Manhas, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Smith, John Hastings, Vijay Shankar, Baba Aparajith, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, Samuel Badree, Pawan Negi, R Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Ishwar Pandey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Matt Henry, Ronit More

Key Players

Dale Steyn

Undoubtedly one of the best new ball bowlers in the world still, Dale Steyn remains crucial for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

With his dual role of stifling the openers before coming back in the death overs, he is a frightening prospect for opposition batsmen.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

He may not have been required too often by the Super Kings so far, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni is still a key performer.

An astute captain in Twenty20 cricket as well as a superb batsman, he has not had to do too much so far, but when called upon is capable of something special.

Kevin Pietersen made a losing return to action as his Delhi side went down by four runs to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.

Pietersen, who missed the opening three games due to a broken finger, made just 16 as the Daredevils were unable to chase down 185.

Earlier, Australians Aaron Finch and David Warner put on 128 for the second wicket as the Sunrisers made 184-1 in their 20 overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AeaJyRfVT4

Sunrisers captain Shikhar Dhawan and Finch put on 55 without loss in the powerplay before the Indian opener went for 33 in the seventh over.

However, with eight boundaries and four sixes in his 88 from 53 balls, Finch—along with Warner—punished the Delhi bowlers.

Warner contributed a further three maximums in making 58 from 45 balls with 85 coming off the final six overs.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
Shikhar Dhawan	c Kevin Pietersen b Shahbaz Nadeem	33	22	150.00	5	1
Aaron Finch	NOT OUT	88	53	166.03	8	4
David Warner	NOT OUT	58	45	128.88	3	3
EXTRAS	(w 2, lb 3)	5
BOWLER	O	M	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Shahbaz Nadeem	4	0	24	1	6.00	12
Mohammed Shami	4	0	36	0	9.00	6
Wayne Parnell	4	0	38	0	9.50	7
Jaydev Unadkat	4	0	43	0	10.75	4
JP Duminy	2	0	19	0	9.50	3
Laxmi Ratan Shukla	2	0	21	0	10.50	5

Delhi's reply started brightly with Murali Vijay and Quinton de Kock sharing a 99-run stand for the first wicket.

The South African departed for 48 in the 12th over with Vijay following in the next for 52.

Pietersen came to the crease with 82 runs required from 46 balls. Despite hitting a four and a six, he looked rusty in his 17-ball innings before becoming Dale Steyn's second victim in as many balls.

Form man JP Duminy blasted 20 off just seven balls, but Manoj Tiwary was unable to hit a six off the final ball to force a super over, and the exiled England batsman may regret the decision to bat ahead of the South African.

BATSMEN		RUNS	BALLS	SR	4S	6S
Quinton de Kock	c Aaron Finch b Karan Sharma	48	30	160.00	6	1
Murali Vijay	c Dale Steyn b Darren Sammy	52	40	130.00	7	1
Kevin Pietersen	c Darren Sammy b Dale Steyn	16	17	94.11	1	1
Dinesh Karthik	c Lokesh Rahul b Dale Steyn	15	14	107.14	1	0
JP Duminy	NOT OUT	20	7	285.71	1	2
Manoj Tiwary	NOT OUT	23	13	176.92	2	1
EXTRAS	(nb 1, w 2, lb 3)	6
BOWLER	O	M	R	W	ECON	DOTS
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	4	0	40	0	10.00	6
Dale Steyn	4	0	33	2	8.25	7
Venugopal Rao	1	0	9	0	9.00	1
Karan Sharma	4	0	23	1	5.75	10
Darren Sammy	3	0	34	1	11.33	5
Amit Mishra	4	0	38	0	9.50	6

It was a first win in three attempts for Hyderabad, while Delhi—who lost 13 of 16 games last season—lost their third match in four.