Depleted Royals have no margin for error as Sunrisers come calling
Big picture
The bottom of the IPL 2019 table has lit up over the last few weeks. Three teams are now tied on eight points after 11 games, and each of them still has a chance to make the playoffs. Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore have put themselves in this position through small tweaks; Royals changed their captain and their batting order, and now have a batting line-up that looks more potent than it did before Steven Smith took over.
The agenda for them against Sunrisers Hyderabad is straightforward - win. They need to win all three of their games to stay in contention. But they have a massive challenge: Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes have left for England, and Smith will soon be gone as well. The stakes are automatically higher as a result.
Sunrisers have lost Jonny Bairstow to England's World Cup camp as well, but at ten points from ten games, they have a match in hand and a slightly higher margin for error - two wins out of four games will still keep them in contention. They also have only minor changes to endure as far as overseas talent goes, and will be looking to wrap up the league stage in good form.
In the news
Buttler, Archer and Stokes will take no further part for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, and Bairstow flew out to England on April 24 following Sunrisers' game against Chennai.
Kane Williamson, who had flown back to New Zealand for personal reasons before the Super Kings match, has returned ahead of the tie.
Previous meeting
Sanju Samson's silken unbeaten 102 helped Royals post 198 in Jaipur, but a 110-run opening stand between David Warner and Bairstow put Sunrisers on course for a win they completed with an over to spare.
Likely XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Kane Williamson (capt), 2 David Warner, 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 Shakib Al Hasan/Mohammad Nabi, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Wriddhiman Saha (wk)/Sreevats Goswami (wk), 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Sandeep Sharma/Siddarth Kaul
Rajasthan Royals: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Rahul Tripathi/Liam Livingstone, 5 Ashton Turner/Ish Sodhi, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Riyan Parag, 8 Shreyas Gopal, 9 Dhawal Kulkarni/Mahipal Lomror , 10 Varun Aaron, 11 Oshane Thomas
Strategy punt
- Sunrisers are likely to have more comfort in batting at Sawai Mansingh Stadium than the home team - their batsmen have scored more non-boundary runs (47.6%) than any other team and will play at the venue that has had nearly just as many (47%) non-boundary runs. Williamson, Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar should be encouraged to play to their accumulative strengths.
- While Martin Guptill is available to replace Bairstow at the top with Warner, Sunrisers will be well served if they let Williamson return to form in the position where he's had most success for them.
- Royals could be tempted to build their house on legspin: Ish Sodhi and Liam Livingstone will both offer that option, and with Riyan Parag now playing a primarily batting role, Shreyas Gopal might find a buddy at the other end as he could be handed more late-overs duties than before.
Stats that matter
- The last time Royals beat Sunrisers was in 2015. Sunrisers have a 4-0 win record since that game.
- Ajinkya Rahane needs 53 more runs to reach 5,000 in T20s.
- Rashid Khan is two wickets away from 50 wickets for Sunrisers.
- Royals' 74.5% catching efficiency is marginally better than Sunrisers' 73.1%, but their ground fielding has saved a net six runs through this season, as compared to Sunrisers' negative 15.