Sunrisers Hyderabad will be strengthened by the return of their South African signings, including new captain Aiden Markram, when they face Lucknow Super Giants in an away IPL encounter here on Friday. Sunrisers Hyderabad was shocked by a thumping loss in their campaign opener.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar captained SRH in place of Markram in their debut match, which they lost against Rajasthan Royals by a lopsided 72-run scoreline.
Nevertheless, Markram and two other South Africans, Marco Jansen and Heinrich Klaasen, have joined the squad after serving their country’s requirements.
In order to improve this season, SRH will rely on Markram’s leadership abilities after finishing ninth out of 10 teams and last in 2021.
But if the previous game is any indication, SRH struggled against RR, who controlled both powerplays and scored 85 for 1 in the first one before giving up only 30 for 2 in the first six overs while defending 203 for 5.
The storied Brain Lara-coached SRH will want to perform significantly better, particularly on Friday during the powerplay.
The advent of the South African players was very relieving for SRH since, in addition to his tactical prowess, Markram can solidify the batting order and Jansen can give their speed department more bite.
All of the seamers, with the exception of T Natarajan (2/23), were helpless against RR. Although Fazalhaq Farooqi of Afghanistan grabbed two wickets, he ultimately gave up 41 runs in four overs, while Bhuvneshwar, despite all of his expertise, was ineffective.
Umran Malik took a wicket, but he also lost 32 runs in three overs.
Washington Sundar and Adil Rashid had an average day in the spin department, and they will need to pick it up if SRH wants to put the opposition’s hitters under pressure.
Mayank Agarwal performed well in the batting department, but other Indians, like Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi, were unable to get started, raising questions about the top-order.
Glenn Phillips, a wicketkeeper-batsman, and Harry Brooks are both promising players, but they will need to settle in soon.
Kyle Mayers showed some remarkable hitting during his two scorching fifties in the past two games, but LSG captain KL Rahul’s record is concerning as he failed to capitalise on his starts.
Notwithstanding their failure to bring LSG home against Chennai Super Kings, the hitters have generally contributed when needed.
Although England pacer Mark Wood destroyed Delhi Capitals with a five-wicket haul in their inaugural encounter and also accounted for three scalps in their most recent game, Ravi Bishnoi has been outstanding among bowlers with five wickets so far.
While LSG bowlers have sometimes erred in their lengths, they would want to keep the runs under control since it is a game of razor-thin margins.
groups (from)
Mayank Dagar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akeal Hosein, Kartik Tyagi, Heinrich Klaasen, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Glenn Phillips, Adil Rashid, Sanvir Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Umran Malik, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Washington Sundar, and Upendra Yadav are all members of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c and wk), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Amit Mishra, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Naveen ul Haq, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Karan Sharma, Yudhvir Charak, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Mark Wood, Swapnil Singh, Manan Vohra, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jaydev Unadkat, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav.
