Rising Sunrisers Hyderabad hopes to outscore Royal Challengers Bengaluru once again in their next run-fest

When Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) play in their IPL return-leg match here on Thursday, the two teams will be looking to unleash their devastating batting might on the ailing latter.

With their unrestricted style, Sunrisers Hyderabad is pushing the limits of Twenty20 hitting, having already eclipsed the 250-run threshold three times in this IPL season.

While the Mumbai Indians were the first team to fall prey to SRH’s increased batting prowess this season, RCB took the greatest hit as the 2016 champions were guided by Travis Head to the highest-ever IPL total of 287/3 in Bengaluru.

As if that weren’t enough, SRH’s destruction against the Delhi Capitals, which featured a powerplay score of 125/0, raised the prospect of the 300-run barrier being crossed for the first time in IPL history.

And it wouldn’t be shocking if SRH pulled off the unimaginable, especially against a bowling attack as weak as RCB’s, whose bowling troubles can be measured by the fact that their best bowler, Yash Dayal, is ranked 24th overall with seven wickets.

RCB, who are at the bottom of the pool, have lost their past five games by conceding 180 or more points. The opponents have scored more than 200 in the past two games.

Even though the RCB hitters have put a lot of effort into compensating for their major bowling deficiencies, an all-around performance seems improbable with such an uneven team.

RCB deserves a great deal of respect for their valiant batsmanship, but they were unlucky to lose to the Kolkata Knight Riders by only one run after giving up 222/6. Furthermore, the RCB management must have been very satisfied with the team’s batting performance.

Virat Kohli, who made 379 runs to maintain the Orange Cap in his possession despite being the victim of a controversial decision, is still the top batsman for the Royal Challengers of Bengal.

However, a few others are closing close on him, notably SRH’s Head, who is fully using his purple patch.

Head is a player you should definitely keep an eye on because of his ability to detect openings whenever they arise, in addition to his aggression and ability to seize opportunities.

Heinrich Klaasen has also had a great season with the bat, while Abhishek Sharma has thrived in Head’s squad. All things considered, SRH’s impressive displays at bat have eased the workload for their bowlers and captain Pat Cummins.

With 10 points after 7 games, SRH is securely positioned in third place in the league. Although the batsmen’s fervor has propelled the team so far, SRH would be aware that their bowling would be put to the test and that Cummins’ team would be wise to exercise caution when facing an injured RCB team.

TEAMS:

Faf du Plessis (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan are the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

The Sunrisers of Hyderabad are led by Pat Cummins (captain), followed by Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Sanvir Singh, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal, T. Natarajan, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Markande, Upendra Singh Yadav (wk), Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Travis Head, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Jhathavedh Subramanyan