SRH vs. CSK, the Battle of the South: Who will reign supreme?

This year’s IPL has been an exciting and enjoyable watch so far and fans will be hoping for more of the same from their teams. Today’s second match promises an electrifying fixture, with juggernauts Chennai Super Kings facing an unpredictable Sunrisers Hyderabad side in the famous Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Chennai are traditionally a strong team in the IPL, and this year too they have gotten off to a good start. After a loss in their first game to Punjab, they have notched up three consecutive victories and currently lie second in the points table. Hyderabad, on the other hand, lost their first two games before finally picking up their first points against Delhi in the previous
encounter.

Chennai’s strength, as always, is their batting. Dwayne Smith is in great form, and he regularly contributes a significant amount to the Chennai score. His opening partner Brendon McCullum has shown flashes of dangerous form, with fifties against Punjab and Mumbai. With these two getting Chennai off to a good start, it reduces the pressure on the other batsmen. Suresh Raina, the highest run scorer in IPL history, is a bit of a concern though. Only once has he been able to stick around after getting a start, and he ended up scoring a fifty in that match. Chennai fans will be hoping his batting becomes more consistent. The injury to Dwayne Bravo was a big blow to the Chennai team, but South African Faf du Plessis is a good replacement. He has also been getting starts but has so far been unable to convert them into something bigger. Ideally, Chennai would want one of their top four to bat through the innings to reach a truly big score.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has played several useful cameos lower down the order, contributing a few big hits whenever necessary. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also performed with the bat against Rajasthan. The main advantage of the experience and depth of the Chennai batting line up is that at least one of their batsmen usually manages to make a good score and take the team to a fighting total.

The Chennai bowling has also been good this season, apart from the game against Punjab where Maxwell was unstoppable. At least one of their bowlers provides major breakthroughs every game. Against Rajasthan, it was Jadeja with a four wicket haul; against Mumbai, Mohit Sharma did the damage. Their bowling department has a lot of variety, and this is very well exploited by Dhoni, as was seen in the match against Delhi, where six different bowlers were among the wickets. Chennai has a very well balanced and talented squad, even with the absence of Bravo, and it will take a strong all-round performance from any opposition who hopes to beat them.

The Hyderabad team this year has a lot of potential, but has been unable to live up to expectations. The batting in the first two games was disappointing, and only in the last game against Delhi did the big three of Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner and Aaron Finch finally perform with the bat. If Hyderabad wants to win any games, at least one of these three must go on to make a large score. Below them, the batting is largely inexperienced.

The bowling department is Hyderabad’s main strength. Pacers Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been consistently bowling well and they have the potential to devastate any batting lineup. The spin department of Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma is also talented, but has been inconsistent so far, leaking too many runs.

Apart from the loss to Punjab, the team has performed well, taking the game against Rajasthan into the final over and bowling superbly to restrict a dangerous Delhi lineup for their win. They will look to take the positives from the Delhi game into today’s game with Chennai, and both the bowlers and batsmen will have to be at their best.

It ultimately comes down to the Hyderabad bowling against the Chennai batsmen. If the Hyderabad bowlers are able to restrict Chennai to a moderate score, Warner and Co. will back themselves to chase it down. If, on the other hand, Hyderabad have to bat first, the bowlers’ job will become even more crucial, since they will have to contain the Chennai lineup who pride themselves on their chasing skills.

This is a game in which a lot hinges on the toss and the conditions, and whoever wins the toss may well end up winning the game. Either way, it promises to be a tight fought contest between rivals.