SH look to bag play-off position

Still in the thrilling race for a play-off spot after posting a comfortable victory over Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad will now need to beat the beleaguered Kolkata Knight Riders in their final IPL league match here on Sunday to finish among the top four. 

With Royal Challengers Bangalore (18 points) regaining the fourth spot after their win over Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers, also on 18 points, need to beat KKR to secure the final play-off spot. 

KKR’s title defence ended after their loss to Pune Warriors on May 15 but they would look to finish the season on a victorious note, a fact acknowledged by Sunrisers chief coach Tom Moody after his team’s win over Rajasthan on Friday.

Though consistency has been a problem for KKR, they have some seasoned players in the form of captain Gautam Gambhir, all-rounders Yusuf Pathan and Jacques Kallis, Ryan ten Doeschate and L Balaji.

KKR messed up their chase against Warriors on May 15 though Pathan and ten Doeschate were in impressive form and almost took their team to victory with a 98-run partnership.
Pathan, who scored 72 runs in the match, had a rather unusual dismissal of obstructing the field, the first in an IPL match. 

Meanwhile, Sunrisers have a lethal bowling attack comprising world’s best Dale Steyn, wily spinners Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma, Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera and West Indies captain Darren Sammy — all of whom have been a nightmare for rival batsmen in this edition of IPL.

The hosts took full advantage of the wicket in Hyderabad that supports the bowlers and even a modest total became tough for the rivals to chase. Except for the match against CSK on May 8, the Sunrisers have not lost a single game at home .