IPL 2023, RR vs SRH: Rajasthan eyes improved batting effort against Hyderabad to avoid hat-trick of defeats

Bruised and battered in its last game, former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) would look for a much-improved effort from the batting unit against fellow former champion SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) to avoid a hat-trick of defeats in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday.

RR dished out a shoddy batting display as it was bowled out for 118 by defending champion Gujarat Titans (GT) on Friday. Despite back-to-back defeats against former five-time record champion Mumbai Indians (MI) and GT, RR has held on to its spot in the top four of the standings with five wins and as many losses.

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In its last outing RR, which boasts of one of the potent opening duos of the in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler, put up a disastrous batting display. But, the duo could have lived up to the expectations. RR has always looked like a dominating side when Jaiswal and Buttler click. Still, the team management would be concerned with the inconsistent run of its middle orders as the likes of Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, and Shimron Hetmyer are yet to fire in unison.

RR coach Kumar Sangakkara didn't mince his words in criticising the effort of his batters, especially against the spinners. "You can't sit and wait in T20 [Twenty20] cricket and let the bowlers bowl to us...we played an inferior game. Even a defence in T20 cricket has to have the intention of wanting to score," a livid Sangakkara said.

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"You work down the sequence of 6, 4, 3, 2, 1; or, if you're under pressure, you go 4, 3, 2, 1. But you are always looking for opportunities to score and, at the minimum, get off strike. And, once that intent is shown, it doesn't matter how good a bowler you are. You always think you can't give the batter anything lose because you'll get put away. So, that's one area we've got to look at," he added.

On the bowling front, too, RR will have to pull up the socks with Trent Boult and Adam Zampa going for runs. The onus would be on Boult and Sandeep Sharma to provide a good start and the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal to take charge. SRH, on the other hand, has registered just three wins from nine games to occupy the penultimate spot in the 10-team competition.

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Having suffered a close five-run defeat against former two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in its last game, SRH would look to return to winning ways to keep its playoff hopes alive. SRH has been hit hard by the poor show of the batters. The opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Mayank Agarwal needs to provide quick starts, putting immense pressure on the likes of Rahul Tripathi, skipper Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen to do the job. Harry Brook also seemed to have lost touch after his unbeaten 100, scoring just 63 runs in the next eight games. SRH's bowling unit, led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, too, needs to deliver for the side.

Squads:
RR: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Dhruv Jorel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, R Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, KM Asif, KC Cariappa, Donovan Ferreira, Devdutt Padikkal, Obed McCoy, Joe Root, Kuldeep Sen, Akash Vashist, Kuldip Yadav, Adam Zampa and Abdul Basith.
SRH: Aiden Markram (c), Abdul Samad, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan, Umran Malik, Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Adil Rashid, Mayank Markande, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Sanvir Singh, Upendra Yadav, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akeal Hosein and Anmolpreet Singh.

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Match details
Date and day: May 7, 2023 (Sunday)
Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Time: 7.30 PM (IST)
Where to watch (TV): Star Sports 1 and other Star Sports regional language channels - Also available in HD
Where to watch (Online): JioCinema