IPL 2020 | Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings - Statistical Preview

10/12/2020

Fifth-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on seventh-placed Chennai Super Kings in what will be a must-win encounter for both sides to keep their hopes of qualifying for playoffs alive. While SRH won the previous H2H clash, both sides will enter the contest on the back of stinging weekend losses.

Form Guide

Sunrisers Hyderabad - L W L W W

IPL 2020 has been a bizarre, start-stop season for Sunrisers Hyderabad, as whilst they have by no means been as bad as a CSK or KXIP, they have, at the same time, also struggled to be their ruthless self. After registering losses in each of their first two games of the season, Warner & Co. did well to win two games on the bounce but have since been inconsistent. In their weekend outing against the Royals, they let slip a golden opportunity to clinch two points and thus will be fuming internally, having missed a chance to go fourth. But heading into Tuesday’s clash, they will take heart knowing that they’ve already got the better of CSK once this season.

Chennai Super Kings - L L W L L

The victory over Kings XI Punjab was anticipated to be the turning point in CSK’s IPL 2020 campaign but that hasn’t turned out to be the case as MS Dhoni’s men put out uninspiring performances in each of their next 2 games post the KXIP one, versus KKR and RCB respectively. As has been the case since the start of the season, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for CSK’s batting and versus RCB, their batsmen once again made a meal out of an achievable target. Perhaps for the first time in their history, CSK will head into a clash versus SRH as underdogs.

Key Batsmen

Sunrisers Hyderabad - David Warner

After an uncharacteristically slow start to the season, David Warner, much to the surprise of no one, has looked like his evergreen self in the last three or so matches. His score in the last three games read 48, 52 and 60 and despite not putting the final touches to his knocks as much as he would love, the SRH skipper has started to bat with more freedom. This should prove ominous for CSK, against whom he has struck 6 fifties in just 15 innings. With Chahar having the number over Bairstow, SRH will need their skipper and talisman, Warner, to go big come Tuesday.

Chennai Super Kings - Faf du Plessis

It is no surprise that Faf du Plessis remained unbeaten and hit the winning runs in each of Chennai’s two victories so far this season (58* vs MI and 87* vs KXIP). Du Plessis has shone like a sun in a drab and hopeless Chennai batting unit and far too often, he has been let down by his teammates, who at times have shown no will to fight for victories. With 307 runs in 7 games, the Proteas star is the third-highest run-getter of IPL 2020 and he has looked at ease every time, he strides out to the middle. Given he was run-out the last time these two sides faced each other, du Plessis has some unfinished business with SRH.

Key Bowlers

Sunrisers Hyderabad - Rashid Khan

The newspapers will tell you that Rashid Khan was “dismantled” by Rahul Tewatia in the previous game, but what they won’t is that despite getting ‘dismantled’, the leg-spinner only conceded 25 runs. Thus far in IPL 2020, Rashid has maintained a preposterous economy rate of 5.03 and in each of his previous six games, the Afghan prodigy has not conceded over 25 runs in his spell. The last time the two sides met each other, Rashid choked CSK with an otherworldly spell of 0/12 and will be hoping to do the same come Tuesday, in Dubai.

Chennai Super Kings - Shardul Thakur

Despite being one of the most trolled and memed players in the country, the undeniable truth is that Shardul Thakur has been one of the best Indian pacers in IPL 2020. In just four appearances this season, Thakur has picked 7 wickets and he’s taken two-wicket hauls in each of CSK’s last three games. The right-armer has excelled irrespective of the stage of the game and thus he would be eager to showcase his skills against an SRH batting unit that seems to be growing with confidence with every passing game.

Probable XI

Chennai: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), N Jagadeesan, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma

Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan

Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai

When to Watch: Oct 13, 7:30 PM IST

Where to Watch: Star Sports Network and Hotstar (in India)