Image Credit- BCCI
When SRH plays LSG on Wednesday, the stakes are high since both teams are on 12 points and want to increase their chances of making the playoffs by putting some distance between themselves and the rest of the mid-table melee.
Additionally, both teams enter the match having lost their most recent matches. When the Kolkata Knight Riders crushed LSG, their net run rate suffered significantly. SRH lost a significant game against the Mumbai Indians as well.
But the fact that SRH will play their next three league games at home, where their hitters have propelled them to three victories in four games, should give them confidence. This season, teams have smashed 92 sixes and scored 200 or more five times in eight innings in Hyderabad. It is where SRH hopes to differentiate itself from LSG.
With 41 sixes against LSG’s 20 during the powerplay, SRH has outscored LSG by running at a run rate of 11.04 to 8.48. They have once again struck the most sixes in the final overs, 36, while LSG has the fewest, 16 in that segment. The last three league games for LSG are away from home in potentially high-scoring locations in Hyderabad, Delhi, and Mumbai, so their hitters will need to step up.
However, SRH’s run-scoring hasn’t been very good in recent games when you scratch the surface. Travis Head has been reliable, while Abhishek Sharma’s performance has declined, as evidenced by his previous three games’ scores of 15, 12, and 11. SRH has also had trouble with its No. 3; they have tried six different players—the second most behind Delhi Capitals—in that spot, but they haven’t had much luck. The LSG bowlers may choose to focus in this area.
Another intriguing subplot involves SRH captain Pat Cummins against LSG coach Justin Langer, who was fired from the Australian squad in the early months of 2022. Langer resigned as head coach following a rumoured deterioration in his connection with the Australian senior players, having turned down a short-term contract extension. Subsequently, he attacked the “bull**** politics” in Cricket Australia, which Cummins found offensive.
There are currently four teams on 12 points: Chennai Super Kings, SRH, Delhi Capitals and LSG. The winner of Wednesday’s contest will move to third place. The loser will remain outside the top four, and a further deterioration of their net run rate will significantly hurt their playoff hopes.
T Natarajan, who has struck every 14 balls in nine games and taken 15 wickets, is a strong candidate for the Purple Cap this year. This season, his death bowling has been particularly impressive; he is second only to Jasprit Bumrah with nine wickets in this round. While his economy of 10.58 has been on the higher side, Natarajan has held the SRH bowling together in the death, landing his yorkers with precision.
Perhaps LSG’s response to the Natarajan menace is Nicholas Pooran. The left-hander has faced 24 balls from Natarajan in IPL, scored 42 runs at a strike rate of 175.0 and has never been dismissed. However, Pooran hasn’t been playing at his best lately; in his last three games, he’s scored 11, 14*, and 10.