Gujarat Lions (GL) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) IPL 2016 Match 15, Preview: Gujarat eye win against inconsistent Hyderabad

Gujarat Lions (GL) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) IPL 2016 Match 15, Preview: Gujarat eye win against inconsistent Hyderabad

Having won all matches so far in the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Gujarat Lions (GL) will aim to maintain their winning momentum in the clash against an inconsistent Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). This will be the 15th match of what is turning out to be very tedious tournament, in which the quality of cricket has been ordinary, and has failed to generate the buzz one usually associates with IPL. Anyway, for the teams such as GL, it will be important to maintain their momentum, after making a very strong start in their first-ever edition of IPL. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2016, Match 15 at Rajkot.

Gujarat Lions (GL) will be the favourites for this clash, and this is not an exaggeration at all. This is their first IPL appearance, and the Lions have got off to a terrific start, winning all three matches so far. They have produced an excellent all-round show so far in the tournament, and it will be fair to say that Gujarat Lions (GL) have been the most consistent team so far in the IPL 9.

On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have blown hot and cold. David Warner has struck two half-centuries in three matches so far, but he has been like a one-man army in a team full of inconsistent performers. Shikhar Dhawan is getting close to being dropped for not scoring enough runs, and the experiment to move Moises Henriques — who has never been close enough in the Australian side for selection on consistent basis — has been unsuccessfully persisted with at No. 3 spot. One must remember that the move with Henriques had not worked for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2009, either.

Then there is Eoin Morgan, who has been woeful form of late. The England limited-overs captain can demolish the best of bowling attacks on his day, but the world awaits its arrival. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have enough depth in batting, with quality players such as Naman Ojha and Deepak Hooda in their ranks, but consistency is a huge challenge and they have generally failed on that.

Gujarat Lions (GL) are reaping the benefits of an angry Aaron Finch, who has struck a half-century every time he has walked out to bat in this IPL. Finch has scored 191 runs in three games with a strike rate of 113, and it will be an interesting battle between  him and the left-arm seamers that Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have in Mustafizur Rahman and Barinder Sran.

Suresh Raina is expected to miss a few matches — for the first time in the history of the tournament — as he is expecting the birth of his first child. Raina has been decent enough with the bat for Gujarat Lions (GL), making useful contributions so far in the IPL. But with the Lions performing well across departments, he is not likely to be missed by the team which has enough firepower in their ranks to keep up the good work.

The game will be played at Rajkot, which is the homeground for the Gujarat Lions (GL). It has been a batsmen-friendly track and if Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are aiming to stop the Lions’ juggernaut, their batsmen will have to get their A game forward.

Squads:

Gujarat Lions (GL): Suresh Raina (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Brendon McCullum, Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Dwayne Smith, Dhawal Kulkarni, Aaron Finch, Eklavya Dwivedi, Andrew Tye, Ishan Kishan, Jaydev Shah, Shadab Jakati, Pravin Tambe, Pradeep Sangwan, Amit Mishra, Shivil Kaushik, Aksh Deep Nath, Sarabjeet Ladda, Umang Sharma, Paras Dogra.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): Ashish Reddy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Bipul Sharma, Karn Sharma, KL Rahul, Naman Ojha (wk), Parvez Rasool, Ricky Bhui, Shikhar Dhawan, Siddharth Kaul, David Warner (c), Moises Henriques, Eoin Morgan, Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra, Deepak Hooda, Mustafizur Rahman, Aditya Tare (wk), Barinder Sran, Ben Cutting, Vijay Shankar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Tirumalasetti Suman.

Time: 20.00 local | 14.30 GMT

(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)