IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals v Sunrisers Hyderabad – Preview, Prediction, Probable Playing XIs and Value Bets.
Match Details
Rajasthan Royals v Sunrisers Hyderabad
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Sunday, May 2nd, 2021
12:00 SA Time
Betting Preview
The 28th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will see a battle between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Delhi. The head-to-head record between these two teams is pretty tight with SRH leading by seven wins to six. Both the teams are currently reeling at the bottom of the table, RR is in seventh while SRH are in eighth position. Both RR and SRH will want to get their campaign on track with a win.
Rajasthan Royals suffered their fourth loss of the tournament at the hands of Mumbai Indians by seven wickets on Thursday. So far they have played six games and have managed to win only two. RR are facing many issues, most of them were due to the unfortunate player unavailabilities while a few of their own making. RR’s batting has been a big letdown with Jos Buttler not firing as they would’ve hoped. Samson has carried their batting unit but he needs assistance from others. Their bowling hasn’t been convincing either.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are currently last on the table with only one win from six. SRH are coming into this game after a 7-wickets loss at the hands of CSK and they have replaced captain David Warner with Kane Williamson. Much like RR, SRH have also been hit by injuries to their main bowlers, Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar. As a result, their bowling unit is back to Rashid Khan or bust. The batting of SRH hasn’t clicked collectively yet. While Bairstow and new skipper Williamson are in fine form, Warner has struggled to get going. His 55-ball-57 knock against CSK was very frustrating for everyone and received a fair bit of flak.
Injury and Availability News
Rajasthan Royals are already four overseas players down with Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Liam Livingstone and Andrew Tye out of the tournament. Replacement player Rassie van der Dussen is currently undergoing a seven-day quarantine period.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have dropped a bombshell with the sacking of David Warner and his possible omission from the team. Their pacers, T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are also out with injuries.
Probable Playing XI
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c/wk), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson (c), Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed.
Pitch and Conditions
Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi has traditionally been a slow surface with help for the spinners. However, the track has produced two high-scoring games in two matches in IPL 2021 with an average score of 172. The average first innings score at Delhi in T20s is 166.
Key Players to Watch Out For
Jos Buttler: The English batter has an aura around him. Buttler is one of the best limited-overs batters going around. He has an incredible record as an opener in T20 cricket. However, he has had a very underwhelming season so far for a player of his class. Buttler, who has an average of 33.5 and a strike rate of 148 in IPL, has so far scored 130 runs at an average of 21.7 and strike rate of 127.5. Buttler is an important cog in the wheel for RR and they need him to step up.
Rahul Tewatia: Rahul Tewatia became an instant hero for world cricket last year when he won the game for RR after he dug a hole for himself. Tewatia’s 31-ball-51 knock is itched in the memory of every T20 fan. Tewatia has scored 255 runs at an average of 46.5 and a strike rate of 139.3. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate those performances this season. With Rashid Khan in the opposition’s ranks, Tewatia might get promoted in the batting order.
David Warner: The Australian dynamo has been the pillar of SRH’s batting unit. He has carried their batting unit for years by piling up 500-plus runs for six consecutive seasons. Just like last year’s early phase of the tournament, David Warner has produced underwhelming returns so far with 193 runs at a below par strike rate of 110 and as a result, was sacked from captaincy. If he is not dropped from the playing XI, he will be the player to watch out for.
Rashid Khan: The Afghan spinner has been SRH’s biggest weapon with the ball. When most leg-spinners wane off after a time, Rashid Khan seems to be getting better and better. In the six matches this season, Rashid has picked 9 wickets at an economy of 6.17 RPO, a wicket every 16 balls. Khan has taken 84 wickets in his IPL career with an economy rate of 6.24. Rashid Khan has a terrific record against RR batters and he’d like to extend that.
What Bets To Take
Rajasthan Royals
Jos Buttler to be RR’s top batsman at 3.50.
Chris Morris to be RR’s top bowler at 3.25.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
David Warner to be SRH’s top batsman at 3.00.
Rashid Khan to be SRH’s top bowler at 2.75.
Prediction: Sunrisers Hyderabad to win at 1.80.