HYDERABAD: Lucknow Super Giants will be itching to get back to winning ways against a buoyant Sunrisers Hyderabad with young wrist spinner Ravi Bishnoi holding the key in a must-win IPL game here on Saturday.
LSG, having lost two of its last three matches, will take a huge step forward if it happens to get past Aiden Markram’s team, which is languishing in ninth place in the 10-team table.
However, on an Uppal track that has produced middling team totals, the role of spinners will be paramount, and that’s where Bishnoi, veteran ‘Impact Sub’ Amit Mishra and skipper Krunal Pandya himself come into the picture.
The spin troika will have its task cut out against a Hyderabad line-up whose batting will be dependent on its three overseas recruits -- Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and Glenn Phillips.
Phillips is a new entrant into the playing XI after Rs 13.25 crore buy Harry Brook’s underwhelming returns of 163 runs in first nine games.
With his fast googlies Bishnoi, the team’s best bowler with 12 wickets, could trouble the overseas trio while Mishra’s guile and Krunal’s steady wicket-to-wicket bowling could be key against the ‘Orange Army’.
If one compares man to man, LSG’s spinners are better placed since SRH already is hamstrung by Washington Sundar’s pull-out from the tournament. The only spinner doing well for it consistently is Mayank Markande, who has 11 wickets from eight games at an economy rate of 7.31.
Hyderabad, which looked a good team on paper, has suffered on many counts but primarily due to the loss of form of two premier Indian batters Mayank Agarwal (9 matches 187 runs) and Rahul Tripathi (10 matches, 237 runs). Their poor strike-rates of 114.02 and 127.41 tell the whole story.
As far as LSG’s batting is concerned, regular skipper KL Rahul’s injury has proved to be a blessing in disguise with both Quinton de Kock and Kyle Mayers attacking from the word go.
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