Sunrisers Hyderabad will look for a change in fortunes as they take on Lucknow Super Giants in their upcoming fixture in IPL 2022. The encounter takes place at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai on Monday (April 4). SRH, who endured a horrendous campaign in 2021, started this season on a sour note as well. Rajasthan Royals thrashed them by 61 runs in what can be called a one-sided affair.
Hence, Kane Williamson’s men need a solid plan to bounce back from the debacle. If one goes by the on-paper strength, SRH are a decent squad with the likes of Williamson, Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram gracing the batting department. Among Indian talents, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi and Abdul Samad are in the ranks.
Although the combination looks pretty balanced, the players need to come together as a unit to help SRH post a potent score. Meanwhile, the 2016-season champions have some concerns in the bowling department as well. The likes of Washington Sundar and Umran Malik leaked runs in SRH’s opening fixture as Rajasthan Royals posted 210/6 while batting first.
Meanwhile, SRH can also take some positives from the defeat with Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowling an impressive spell. Aiden Markram and Sundar also played handy knocks. Coming to LSG, the KL Rahul-led side suffered a narrow five-wicket defeat in their opening fixture against Gujarat Titans. They didn’t make a great start in their second game either as Chennai Super Kings posted 210/7 while batting first.
However, contributions from skipper Rahul, Quinton de Kock, and Evin Lewis meant LSG crossed the line with three balls to spare. The side is certainly formidable with a bunch of talented all-rounders being in the rank. Not to forget, Jason Holder and Marcus Stoinis are yet to play a game this season and their inclusion will make LSG even more formidable. Till then, Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda will operate in that department. Meanwhile, the side has unearned a gem in Ayush Badoni, who has already played a couple of blinders.
Pitch and Conditions
The track at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy tends to provide some assistance to pacers early on. The boundaries are also on the larger side. However, the pitch is overall fruitful for batters. As dew is set to play a part in the latter half, the team bowling second will have a hard time. Therefore, chasing looks the way forward here.
Playing combination for SRH vs LSG
Sunrisers Hyderabad
As SRH don’t have any unavailability issues in their camp, they aren’t expected to make any changes after just one defeat. Hence, guys like Kartik Tyagi and Umran Malik will continue to warm the benches. Meanwhile, there can be a thought of promoting Washington Sundar in the batting order.
Predicted XI: Kane Williamson (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nicholas Pooran (wicketkeeper), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, T Natarajan
Lucknow Super Giants
With Jason Holder being available for this fixture, he’ll straightaway walk into the side and Dushmantha Chameera might make way for him. Andrew Tye would have been the option to replace Holder but his two-wicket haul during the win over CSK might retain his place in the XI. No other changes are expected as Stoinis is yet to arrive.
Predicted XI: KL Rahul (Captain), Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Andrew Tye, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
SRH vs LSG Head-to-Head
These two sides are meeting for the first time
SRH vs LSG Broadcast Details
Match Timings – 7:30 PM IST
TV – Star Sports Network
Live Streaming – Disney+Hotstar