Bowlers do the trick once again for the Hyderabad team, setting up a meeting with Lions

Sunrisers Hyderabad backed its strength in bowling, spearheaded by the miserly Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman, to stifle a resurgent Kolkata Knight Riders at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Wednesday.

de Villiers and Iqbal Abdulla help the team make the final from a precarious 68 for six; a rare failure from Kohli

A South African’s plight in a knockout match is all too well-known. And in those, A.B. de Villiers has often flattered to deceive. But not on Tuesday, as he single-handedly carried Royal Challengers Bangalore into its third IPL final.

 That the selectors chose to rest all the regulars, barring skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, for the limited-overs series in Zimbabwe did not come as a surprise.

But the outcome of Monday’s selection meeting, which also announced the squad for the four-Test series to be played in the West Indies in July-August, signalled that the end is near for the international careers of Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra.

 FIFA has fired its finance director of the past 13 years, removing another fixture of the Sepp Blatter presidential era in another round of revelations about irregular million-dollar payments.

Markus Kattner’s exit on Monday came after he spent several months in his highest profile role at the scandal-rocked world soccer body as its interim top administrator promoting FIFA’s wish to change its tainted culture even as his links to other investigations added up.

After being crushed by Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians got their act together to get the better of Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets.

Having regrouped quickly after suffering an 85-run drubbing, Mumbai Indians will look to continue their winning ways when they lock horns with bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

Putting its unimpressive run in IPL history behind, Hyderabad is a well-oiled machine with its bowlers and batsmen clicking collectively.

Delhi Daredevils, who are looking to get back to winning ways after two straight defeats, face a stern test as they clash with formidable Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL T20 cricket match, in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Kings XI’s misery continues, suffers its fifth loss in six games.

Mumbai Indians produced an all-round performance to extend Kings XI Punjab’s misery in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League.

After Parthiv Patel and Ambati Rayudu helped Mumbai set a target of 190, the medium-pacers — Jasprit Bumrah, Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan — struck crucial blows to ensure a much-needed emphatic victory for Mumbai, the margin being 25 runs.

 Debutants Gujarat Lions are on a roll this season. With consecutive match-winning half-centuries from Aaron Finch, this Suresh Raina-led side is a good bet to go through to the top four. Gujarat Lions will be facing Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajkot.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

David Warner is quite dejected with the continued failure of Shikhar Dhawan at the top. With top players such as Yuvraj Singh, Kane Williamson and Ashish Nehra out due to injuries Warner faces a dilemma. The side has consistently underperformed, with the exception of Warner who has had two superb knocks, one a match-winner against defending champions Mumbai Indians, and Eoin Morgan.

If fit, Kane Williamson at the top of the order might do some good. He can be brought in place of Moises Henriques. Naman Ojha has decent scores against his name.

If Yuvraj is fit, he can be brought in place of Ashish Reddy or Bipul Sharma.

It remains to be seen whether Yuvraj Singh, Kane Williamson and Ashish Nehra recovers before the third week of the tournament. The Hyderabad team has already lost two of its three matches, and time is running out.

With Mustafizur Rahman bowling beautifully, the bowling department is settled. If Nehra returns then Barinder Sran or Ashish Reddy can be rested. Again here, the injuries to the main players disturb the strategies of Warner.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Henriques and Bipul Sharma have done reasonably well. Barinder Sran (3 for 28) bowled brilliantly against Mumbai Indians.

Playing XI for Sunrisers Hyderabad will be

David Warner (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Eoin Morgan, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha, Bipul Sharma, Ashish Reddy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Saran.

Gujarat Lions

This side has had a dream run so far in this IPL. Gujarat Lions has a very balanced side with match-winning performers.

The destructive Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum at the top should send shivers down the spines of opposition bowlers. If they get going, Gujarat Lions are in for a very big score. Three consecutive match-winning half-centuries from Aaron Finch and good starts from Brendon McCullum have made them a deadly combination.

With Suresh Raina himself at No.3, Gujarat Lions will have no problem with their batting performance. With Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner at the middle the team has little to worry. Raina will be happy that Ravindra Jadeja will be returning to the side.

The bowling is led by Praveen Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Pravin Tambe and the ever-reliable Dwayne Bravo.

Gujarat Lions is now second on the points table with three wins from three matches. The table is led by Kolkata Knight Riders.

To me, with the kind of form Sunrisers Hyderabad are in, the match will be a cake walk for Gujarat Lions.

Playing XI for Gujarat Lions

Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (captain), Dwaye Bravo, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Tambe and Shakab Jakati.

source: thehindu.com/sport/