Hyderabad and Chennai will face each other in the 46th match of the Indian T20 League at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium on May 1. This will be the second time both teams will play against each other in the ongoing season. The last time when these two sides met each other, the Kane Williamson-led side emerged as winners.
Talking about both teams’ performances this season, the defending champions have only managed to win two games out of eight. On the other hand, the 2016 winners have won five out of eight, thus far. The Yellow Brigade would want to win the upcoming game to keep their playoff hopes alive while Hyderabad would look to return to winning ways.
Team News:
Hyderabad:Â
The team are coming off a last-ball defeat against Gujarat. In that game, only Umran Malik took wickets which proved costly as the team couldn’t defend the total of 196 runs. Talking about their batting, they discovered Shashank Singh who can hit boundaries at will. Singh hit three sixes against Lockie Ferguson. Hyderabad are likely to go with an unchanged playing XI on Sunday.
Key Players:Â
Abhishek Sharma:Â
The left-hander is an in-form player and has been providing quick starts to the team. In the last game against Gujarat, he scored 65 runs striking at 154.76. He scored a half-century against Chennai and would be look to replicate that performance on Sunday.
Umran Malik:Â
The tearaway pacer has been one of the strike bowlers for the team. In the last game against Gujarat, he took the first five-wicket of his Indian T20 League career. With the kind of form he is in, he will be the man to watch out for.
Probable XI:Â Kane Williamson (c), Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Shashank Singh, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Marco Jansen, Umran Malik, T Natarajan
Team News
Chennai:Â
The four-time winners have struggled badly this season. There bowling looks weak in the absence of Deepak Chahar and Adam Milne. Batting unit hasn’t been consistent either. They could make quite a few changes in the team. As far as changes are concerned, Chennai might bring Moeen back into the playing XI.
Key Players:Â
Shivam Dube:Â The left-hander has been in a great form with three fifties to his name. He has the ability to hit boundaries at will and take the team to a huge total. He could be an important player for the team.
Mukesh Choudhary:Â The left-arm pacer has done well in the last few games after having a tough time initially. He has been picking wickets with the new ball. Chennai would be at the driver’s seat if he could pick wickets early on.
Probable XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Dwaine Pretorius, Mukesh Choudhary, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana.
Match Details
Venue: MCA Stadium, Pune
Time:Â 07:30 PM IST
Live Telecast:Â Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar
Pitch Report: The last two games at the venue (Rajasthan vs Bangalore) and (Punjab vs Lucknow) has seen pacers getting help from the surface. In these game, a total of 140 to 150 has proven defendable. The conditions in the upcoming game might remain the same.
