Returning Royals face Sunrisers' bowling might
One returning franchise is already dominating the conversation this IPL, and now it's time for the other to come up on stage and say what's up
Big picture
The likely XIs
Strategy punt
- Sunrisers should forget about the theory of not bowling into a left-hander's hitting arc and use Rashid against Stokes. The head-to-head in T20 cricket reads seven balls, nine runs and two wickets.
Stats that matter
- Rahane will be wary of the bowlers Sunrisers have. He has only made 191 runs off 208 balls against them. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, in particular, has taken him out six times - three times more than anyone else in the IPL.
- Kane Williamson has a T20 strike rate of 192 against the bowlers in the Royals roster. He's made 73 runs off 38 balls, losing his wicket only once. Forty-two of them have come off Stokes, at a strike-rate of 210.
- Alex Hales has lost his wicket to spinners 20 times in 41 innings for England. He's especially vulnerable to the left-arm orthodox variety - 12 dismissals. Ankit Sharma might want to pass that on to the Royals think tank.
- Between Bhuvneshwar, Rashid and Shakib, Sunrisers can count on 12 good overs. And in Bhuvneshwar, they have an excellent death bowler - 43 wickets in 71.1 overs. But who will partner him? Shakib, Rashid and Sandeep Sharma have been conceding at least nine an over in this stage of an innings since IPL 2015. Siddharth Kaul might be asked to strap on that headband again (economy rate 8.3, including 11 wickets in 10.4 overs)
Fantasy picks
- Try the new kid. The cult of Jofra Archer has grown past English shores even though he's not played a single game of senior international cricket. The 23-year-old fast bowler is impressive at any stage of the innings, with a T20 economy-rate of 8 in the Powerplay (1-6), 7.05 in the middle overs (7-15) and 8.42 at the death (16-20)
- Rashid Khan. Gives instant satisfaction. A Powerplay expert with 12 wickets, he also gives away only 6.5 runs per over in this stage of an IPL innings.
Quotes
Sunrisers Hyderabad coach Tom Moody talks up fellow towering Australian Billy Stanake
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo