HYDERABAD: Sunrisers Hyderabad will be on their guard as they look to zero in on a top four spot against Gujarat Titans at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here.
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IPL ORANGE CAPIPL PURPLE CAPIPL POINTS TABLE
With 14 points in their kitty, a win here will seal a playoffs berth for Sunrisers and will also keep them in contention for a top-two finish since they have a match in hand. They will take on Punjab Kings in their last game on May 19.
With Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals sitting pretty at the top, SRH, Chennai Super Kings (14) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (12) are vying for the other two spots. A loss for the hosts here will brighten the chances of CSK and RCB. Delhi Capitals ended their league campaign with 14 points but net run-rate is likely to go against them.
The hosts had a week-long break after their crushing win over LSG and will enter the clash as overwhelming favourites given their recent exploits. They demolished Super Giants, chasing down 166 in just 9.4 overs.
Openers Travis Head (533) and Abhishek Sharma (401) have been on a relentless attack this season. Head, among the top-three run getters of the league, and Abhishek have a strike rate over 200 in the Powerplay.
The presence of Aiden Markram, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Abdul Samad in the middle adds more fire power to their bat ting unit. The bowling department too has been delivering consistently.
T Natarajan (15 wickets), Pat Cummins (14) and veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar (11) are expected to continue the good work.
GT, meanwhile, appear to be out of contention. The washout against KKR was a dampener as Titans looked to stay alive with a 35-run win over CSK.
Constant changing and chopping - Titans have used 23 different players this season - did not help their cause. The indifferent form of David Miller too was a blow.
