SRH to face Rajasthan Royals in a must win battle

DUBAI: Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be looking to keep their playoff hopes alive when they face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 40th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

The Steve Smith-led Royals are placed sixth in the standings with eight points and still they have a thin chance of making to the next round. SRH, on the other hand, are a place below them on six points and thus have a four-point gap to bridge.

Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, and Robin Uthappa need to provide a good start to Rajasthan Royals while the onus of converting those lies on the shoulders of Buttler and Smith. Samson's performances have fallen off a cliff since the first two matches of the season and he would be looking to get his act together.

Young Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia have rescued their side from tricky situations on a number of occassions this season and the top order will be looking to reduce the load on them.

Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, are on the verge of losing a playoff berth and only a win could keep them buoyant. The 2016 champions rely heavily relies on its top four — Jonny Bairstow, Warner, Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson.

They have remain unable to find a finisher in their middle-order. It is this factor, along with Williamson's injury, that prompted Warner to demote himself lower down the order in their previous game against Kolkata Knight Riders. He ended up pushing the match into a Super Over. (IANS)

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