Sunrisers could prove tricky for Royal Challengers

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2013, Hyderabad

Match facts

Sunday, April 7, 2013
Start time 20:00 (14:30 GMT)

 

    Can Dale Steyn keep Chris Gayle in check?

Heading into their first away match of IPL 2013, Royal Challengers Bangalore may start favourites but Sunrisers Hyderabad, with a victory as well in their opening game, showed they can be tough and determined opponents.

How formidable the Sunrisers’ challenge will be depends largely on their batting order. With the exception of Thisara Perera, nobody really managed to take charge of the innings after getting a start. Against Royal Challengers, they will be tested against a stronger bowling attack.

Chris Gayle is fit for Royal Challengers after limping through a good part of his match-winning innings in their first game. Gayle, again, had a huge influence on his team’s fortunes, but he could have done with more support during his unbeaten 92. He and Virat Kohli added 25 before Royal Challengers slipped to 80 for 5. Only KB Arun Karthik gave him company of any significance. Getting Gayle early offers Sunrisers’ bowlers a strong chance of containing Royal Challengers.

On Sunday, Gayle and Tillakaratne Dilshan will be up against Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma on a track that could likely play the way it did in the low-scorer between Sunrisers and Pune Warriors. Royal Challengers would have noted Steyn’s dominance in his first spell but playing Perera and Amit Mishra could prove just as challenging.

 

Players to watch

Amit Mishra, the second-highest wicket-taker in the IPL, has bowled fairly consistently through the IPLs. Against Warriors, he brought out his variations to stifle the batsmen. Royal Challengers have good players of spin in Dilshan and Virat Kohli and as the lead spinner in the side, Mishra will have to shoulder the responsibility of keeping the opposition in check. Tillakaratne Dilshan took the IPL by storm in 2009, scoring 418 runs for Delhi Daredevils. Since his shift to Royal Challengers, he’s been an important member of the line-up, scoring more than 500 runs in 20 games. He would no doubt have rued the shot that got him out against Mumbai Indians, but with two centuries and a half-century in his last five innings, Dilshan will be eager to put that start behind him and get going in IPL 2013.

 

Stats and trivia

• Royal Challengers have won just one out of their last four matches in Hyderabad. Their last victory in Hyderabad was in 2008.
• With three wickets in the last match against Mumbai Indians, R Vinay Kumar became the first Royal Challengers bowler to get to 50 wickets. He now has 52 wickets from 49 matches at an average of 26.07 for his side. His overall tally in the IPL is 64 wickets in 62 matches, which puts him among the top 10 wicket-takers of the tournament.

Quotes

“It was probably a more bowler-friendly wicket. It was not a free-flowing wicket. You could not just go there and play your shots. The ball was not quite coming onto the bat.” Dale Steyn on the track in the Sunrisers’ first game

Sunrisers defend 126 on IPL debut

 

Sunrisers Hyderabad 126 for 6 (Perera 30) beat Pune Warriors 104 (Steyn 3-11, Mishra 3-19) by 22 runs

Dale Steyn took three in four balls to close out the match

Sunrisers Hyderabad made a winning debut in the IPL as they defended a low score at their home ground on a slow, difficult pitch. Thisara Perera, Sunrisers’ $675,000 acquisition, did not begin too badly for his new franchise, top-scoring with a quick 30, taking the first two Pune Warriors wickets and causing a run-out. Amit Mishra wasn’t too far behind, his legbreaks leaving Warriors confounded on a helpful surface. Dale Steyn left the Warriors top order dazed with his outswingers and returned to blow away the lower order with three wickets in four balls.

Not many would have given Sunrisers a chance when they almost sleepwalked their way to 126 after being put in, barring a brief effort to break free from Perera. Deccan Chargers, the franchise Sunrisers replaced, had an atrocious record at this ground, and Sunrisers appeared set to extend that in front of a lukewarm turnout. But they came out a different unit with the ball.

Steyn, charged up as almost always, beat the Warriors openers repeatedly with quick outswingers. Ishant Sharma was correct and testing, as he can be in helpful conditions. The wickets came Perera’s way, though.

After running him fine for a boundary, Robin Uthappa tried repeating the stroke and went caught behind. Marlon Samuels gave the lone slip catching practice in Perera’s next over, Kumar Sangakkara deserving credit for sticking with the fielder and the bowler.

Warriors’ batting line-up stretched way down to No. 8 Mitchell Marsh, but it was to come unstuck as Mishra brought out his control and variations. Yuvraj Singh, on IPL comeback, walked down, and was easily beaten and stumped. Manish Pandey’s struggle to put bat to ball ended with a mishit slog off Mishra, as the asking-rate started mounting.

Almost everything clicked for Sangakkara on the field. He needed young Ashish Reddy to bowl a decent 17th over, and the bowler responded by uprooting Ross Taylor’s leg stump with a full, slower delivery.

With 33 needed off three overs, Perera was to make another important contribution. Angelo Mathews, who came in at No. 7, smashed a full toss straight back at Perera, who stuck out his right hand, and the dangerous Marsh was caught short of his crease at the non-striker’s end.

Warriors’ lower order panicked against Steyn, trying to attack the fast bowler while their captain looked on helplessly from the other end, ruing that his team left as many as seven deliveries unused.

Sunrisers used up their quota when they batted, but weren’t able to find any momentum. The top four got only starts, and it was down to Perera to breathe some life into a suffocating innings. He began with consecutive fours off Rahul Sharma and slogged Marlon Samuels’ darts for two more boundaries before mishitting an Ashok Dinda full toss in the 18th over. Perera’s fall meant Sunrisers weren’t able to finish well with the bat, but they were far more determined with the ball.

Dhawan’s absence chance for others – Sangakkara

 

A new beginning: After a poor season in 2012, Kumar Sangakkara is leading the Hyderabad team under a new umbrella  Kumar Sangakkara, the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, said that while the team would be affected by the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, his injury would offer a younger player a chance to do. Dhawan fractured his finger while fielding in the third Test against Australia in March.

Kumar Sangakkara, the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain, said that while the team would be affected by the absence of Shikhar Dhawan, his injury would offer a younger player a chance to do. Dhawan fractured his finger while fielding in the third Test against Australia in March.

“I think it is a huge loss,” Sangakkara said. “I watched him scoring that magnificent century for India against Australia in his debut Test. But, we have replacements who are probably good enough to do the job and we are excited to give that opportunity to a younger guy.”

In the absence of Dhawan, Parthiv Patel, the former India wicketkeeper, is likely to shoulder the responsibility of opening the innings along with Sangakkara. “If you look at my career, I batted in almost every place. I am ready for any challenge,” Patel said.

Sangakkara also said their first match against Pune Warriors would help the new team understand where it stands and use it as a reference point for further improvement.

 

“We just want to keep things as simple as possible, play some good cricket, be very competitive in this tournament and then once we played the first match, then we will understand more, probably better, where we are at the moment and build from there again,” he said.

 

Amit Mishra, the team’s legspinner, who struggled with his fitness during the last IPL, was also upbeat about the new season. “In the last edition I rushed into the IPL after an injury. I was not fully fit. This time I come into the IPL with decent performances in domestic cricket. Being one of the top five bowlers in the IPL gives me great pleasure.”