Monday 8 April 2013

Sunrisers Hyderabad ready for a repeat

           
The two successive close matches for Bangalore had prompted Moises Henriques, the allrounder, to say, Hopefully for the fans, we don't keep that up. Hopefully, we can get a couple of wins without making them panic so much.Hyderabad are a study in contrast, with an underwhelming top order and a potent bowling attack led by Dale Steyn. Each of Steyn, Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra have shown good form so far, while Thisara Perera's all-round skills have added a valuable dimension to Hyderabad's balance.For Bangalore to win on Tuesday, and win comfortably, they'll need their Plan A to kick in: Chris Gayle firing. There are many who feel, perhaps legitimately, that Bangalore have no Plan B. But then again, there isn't any player quite like Gayle in Twenty20 cricket. The only one who could arguably give Gayle competition as a Twenty20 batsman is AB de Villiers, who is scheduled to arrive in Bangalore on the morning of the match. While de Villiers will be available for selection, rushing him into a match might not be in his or Bangalore's best interests.Hyderabad's four overseas players have been Kumar Sangakkara, the captain, Steyn, Perera and Cameron White. White came good in the Super Over against Bangalore and his team will want the confidence gained there to translate into better form.If de Villiers does come in, he's likely to replace either Tillakaratne Dilshan or Henriques, with Muttiah Muralitharan providing four tight overs of spin in the middle overs. Given that the Bangalore track had a fair bit for the seamers and that Henriques put in a good performance with both bat and ball against Hyderabad while Dilshan disappointed, the Sri Lankan should be more likely to sit out. Bangalore's bowling has been their Achilles heel, but they were given a boost on the eve of the match, with Zaheer Khan, who had missed the first two matches, declared fit.

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