Match details

Sunrisers Hyderabad (fifth) vs Rajasthan Royals (first)
Hyderabad, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

Big picture - Best bowling team vs best batting team

Rajasthan Royals have given up only one 200-plus total in a season where such totals are being scored every other day. Sunrisers Hyderabad have set and then reset the record for the highest total in IPL history. This contest between the best bowling side of the IPL and the best batting side has been a long time coming.

With Trent Boult and his penchant for first over wickets, Royals are one of two teams to average under 30 in the powerplay (the other is Gujarat Titans). They're also allowing runs at a mere 8 an over. Could they keep that up when they face up to Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head and Heinrich Klaasen at a ground where six-hitting has been so common there's been one every two overs? (11.1 per innings in IPL 2024)

Form guide

Sunrisers Hyderabad LLWWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Rajasthan Royals WWWWL

Team news and impact player strategy

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers might consider bringing back their legspinner Mayank Markande in place of fingerspinner Shahbaz Ahmed. They might use them both given the many right-hand batters in the Royals line-up, but this year, spinners (8.3 balls per six) have been easier to hit out of the park in Hyderabad than the quicks (11.9). Also, Sanju Samson is the best spin six-hitter (39) since IPL 2022. Jos Buttler (31) is fourth on the list. T Natarajan is likely to continue as Impact Player, subbing in and out for a batter, like Anmolpreet Singh.

Probable XII: 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 5 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Pat Cummins (capt), 8 Mayank Markande/Shahbaz Ahmed, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 T Natarajan, 12 Anmolpreet Singh

Rajasthan Royals

The strength that they have in the bowling does come at the cost of batting depth. It only goes down till No. 7, with R Ashwin as the floater in the line-up, lengthening it when needed. Fortunately, their openers alone are capable of playing the whole 20 overs and with Samson and Riyan Parag also in form, they haven't really needed lower-order support. Yuzvendra Chahal is their usual Impact Sub.

Probable XII: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Dhruv Jurel, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Rovman Powell, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Sandeep Sharma, 12 Yuzvendra Chahal

In the spotlight - Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shimron Hetmyer

Stats that matter

Pitch and conditions

The average first innings total in Hyderabad in IPL 2024 is 216. Tells you all you need to know.

Quotes

"We're very proud of the players who've made it. They've worked really hard. It's been tough for all the players who were there and thereabouts and until the final announcement was made, I can understand how their minds would have been but I think a lot of credit should also be given to those players. They tried their best to shut out all of that and try and play the IPL and that's worked for them and also the way they've played and the way they've adapted has worked for them so I think its a great lesson for all of us that when you settle down into something and you commit to tit, the results are more often than not positive." Rajasthan Royals' Kumar Sangakkara is all praise for the six players in his squad who will be representing their countries at the 2024 T20 World Cup