 "IPL 2023, SRH vs LSG: Sunrisers Hyderabad batters prepare for Lucknow Super Giants spin battle")
synopsis
IPL 2023: SunRisers Hyderabad will host Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday. With both teams still in playoff contention, the host batters will be in focus as they look to tackle the dominant spinners from the visitors.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will be itching to get back to winning ways against a buoyant former champion SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), with young wrist spinner Ravi Bishnoi holding the key in a must-win 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday. LSG, having lost two of its last three matches, will take a huge step forward if it gets past Aiden Markram's team, which is languishing in ninth place in the 10-team table.
The Krunal Pandya-led team is currently fifth with 11 points and is very much in the playoff mix. However, on an Uppal track that has produced middling team totals, the role of spinners will be paramount, and that's where Bishnoi, veteran 'Impact Sub' Amit Mishra and skipper Krunal himself come into the picture.
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The spin troika will have its task cut out against a Hyderabad line-up whose batting will depend on its three overseas recruits -- Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and Glenn Phillips. Phillips is a new entrant into the playing XI after ₹13.25 crore buy Harry Brook's underwhelming returns of 163 runs in the first nine games.
With his fast googlies Bishnoi, the team's best bowler with 12 wickets, could trouble the overseas trio, while Mishra's guile and Krunal's steady wicket-to-wicket bowling could be critical against the 'Orange Army'. In Hyderabad, the track is a bit on the slower side, and the spinners, who bowl at a higher speed, will undoubtedly have an advantage over others.
If one compares man to man, LSG's spinners are better placed since SRH is already hamstrung by Washington Sundar's pullout from the tournament. The only spinner doing well for them consistently is Mayank Markande, who has 11 wickets from eight games at an economy rate of 7.31. Hyderabad, which looked like a good team on paper, has suffered on many counts, but primarily due to the loss of form of two premier Indian batters, Mayank Agarwal (nine matches, 187 runs) and Rahul Tripathi (10 matches, 237 runs). Their poor strike rates of 114.02 and 127.41 tell the whole story.
In fact, except for Klaasen (185.34), the only other top-order batter with a 150-plus strike rate is southpaw opener Abhishek Sharma (152.63). Regarding LSG's batting, regular skipper KL Rahul's injury has proved to be a blessing in disguise, with both Quinton de Kock and Kyle Mayers attacking from the word go.
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However, down the order, Marcus Stoinis (239 at a strike rate of 139) and Nicholas Pooran (248 at 160), despite having the odd good knocks under their belt, need to do more. Ayush Badoni (212 at 147 SR) has also been very effective, but the slow tracks of Lucknow have impeded the team's success with the bat. The away match will undoubtedly allow the team to optimise their batting firepower. Still, they will also have the canny seam duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan to contend with.
Squads:
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.
LSG: Krunal Pandya (captain), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Amit Mishra, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Naveen ul Haq, Ayush Badoni, Avesh Khan, Karan Sharma, Yudhvir Charak, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Mark Wood, Swapnil Singh, Manan Vohra, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Krishnappa Gowtham, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Karun Nair and Mayank Yadav.
Match details
Date and day: May 13, 2023 (Saturday)
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Time: 3.30 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
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