Hyderabad: The intense heat wave continues in the city. Mercury has already breached the 40 mark and is rising. However, all this will be lost on Vibhu Suryavanshi when he takes on Sunrisers Hyderabad, who are yet to make their mark in this edition of the IPL.red hot Rajasthan Royals The in-form team goes into Monday’s match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium and owes much of its success to Suryavanshi. He had a reputation for keeping up coming into this edition and Suryavanshi has been doing it brilliantly, picking the bowlers apart and attacking with the nonchalance of a 15-year-old.Go beyond limits with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!Thanks to their deceptive ways at the top along with Yeshwi Jaiswal, Rajasthan have shown that they are equally good at setting up or chasing down a collection. Factor in Dhruv Jural’s calming influence in the middle and it becomes clear why the Rajasthan top three dominate the Orange Cap standings. Suryavanshi hits at 266.66 which is why Rajasthan runs like a burning train.Abhishek Sharma Also strikes at 218.64, but paradoxically so and that has impressed the Sunrisers, who must have realized by now that the template of last year’s 200-plus total is no longer a safe bet.
Envious of teams breaching 200 for fun last season – SRH took 286/6 in their last encounter against Rajasthan at the venue, the second-highest total in the IPL – the Sunrisers now see a comeback in the same coin. A year is a long time in the game and if anything, the IPL has continued to grow and Sunrisers have posted above 200 three times this year.They successfully defended it against Kolkata Knight Riders to win by 65 runs – their only win in four matches so far – and have seen Royal Challengers Bangalore and, more recently, Punjab Kings, make short work of their totals. All these were away matches for SRH, they were included in all four events, including their only match at home against Lucknow Supergiants, when they were eliminated by Mohammad Shami’s craft.Ishan Kishan was the hero with 106 off 47 balls in this high-scoring match between the two teams here last season — SRH won by 44 runs. If only the skipper can repeat that innings, it will give the Suns Attack, who look a bit restless in the absence of Pete Cummins, something to bowl to.
| 4 – Sunrisers Hyderabad have won their last four IPL fixtures – against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on 7 May 2023 – by four wickets. From a run in Hyderabad on May 2, 2024; 24 May 2024 at Chennai by 36 runs and 23 March 2025 at Hyderabad by 44 runs. RR’s last win over SRH was on April 2, 2023 in Hyderabad by 72 runs. |
