IPL 2024 : SRH Bank On Home Advantage Against Deflated GT In IPL 2024

In the heated race for the playoffs in which five teams – CSK, SRH, DC, RCB and LSG – are still fighting it out for the remaining two spots, SRH are probably best placed to book a berth. One because they are the only team out of those five with two games in hand, and two, they will play both games in their own den. There’s also a third: the two remaining opponents for SRH are two of the bottom three teams on the points table – Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings – which tilts the odds further in favour of SRH.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will lock horns with Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, in Hyderabad, on Thursday, May 16.

SRH vs GT Previous Performances

SRH are currently placed in fourth place with two games remaining and a chance to make it through to the playoffs as well as finish second in the IPL points table. While GT have the worst net run rate in the 10-franchise league, who are already out of the race and will play for their pride.

Buoyed by their record-breaking 10-wicket victory against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), SRH will be brimming with optimism. Meanwhile, GT’s previous game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ended up in a washout without a ball being bowled, the first of its kind in this season’s IPL.

SRH vs GT Head to Head

It was a month and a half ago when the tournament was only a week old that GT had restricted SRH to just 162 in Ahmedabad and chased it down rather easily, thanks to their top four. SRH’s batters have pretty much changed the definition of T20 batting since then. SRH 1 – 3 GT. Sunrisers have lost three matches in a row against the Titans but this will be the first time the teams will face each other in Hyderabad.

Matches Played	04
Won by Sunrisers Hyderabad	03
Won by Delhi Capitals	01
No Result	00

SRH vs GT Pitch Report

It was at this venue that SRH decimated LSG by 10 wickets, having set the tone for their journey here with a total of 277 against MI back in March. They have four wins out of five at home this season, with their only loss coming against Royal Challengers Bengaluru when they couldn’t chase down a target of 207, with the combination of change of pace and spin working well for the visiting side on a slow surface

Barring the last game, in which it looked like SRH could have even chased down 300, according to KL Rahul, there has been just one game in Hyderabad where neither team scored 200. It means another run-fest awaits us on Thursday evening, especially if SRH bat first, because it has been the most high-scoring ground this season. It will be hot, humid and cloudy and there could be some rain too, but not enough to spoil the party again.

Interestingly, teams who have batted first have won three out of five games at this venue. Hence the skipper winning the toss would be inclined to put up a big score on the board to put the opposition under the pump. Speaking of the weather conditions, spells of rain are predicted for match day. The rain forecast might make the skipper have second thoughts on chasing a more preferable option on the flip side of the above mentioned win ratio. Temperature-wise, it’s expected to range between 25°C and 36°C.

SRH vs GT Big Picture All eyes on Travishek once again

In the heated race for the playoffs in which five teams – CSK, SRH, DC, RCB and LSG – are still fighting it out for the remaining two spots, SRH are probably best placed to book a berth. One because they are the only team out of those five with two games in hand, and two, they will play both games in their own den. There’s also a third: the two remaining opponents for SRH are two of the bottom three teams on the points table – Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings – which tilts the odds further in favour of SRH.

The first of those will be GT, who were knocked out of the playoffs race after a washout in Ahmedabad, where the captains waited for the duration of an entire T20 game to finally share points.

SRH will return to the field after a good eight days, having smashed LSG by chasing down 166 even before the halfway mark. They will be high on confidence and spirits, re-energized after a break, and will hope GT haven’t saved their best for their last league game.

A lot of the contrast between SRH and GT this season is shown by how they have gone about hitting their sixes so far. Compared to the 146 sixes by SRH this IPL, the most, GT rank at the bottom, with just 67, which is just one more than how many Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have slammed put together. The story is similar across the three phases of the game, and it will come down to how much GT can restrict the SRH top order to in the powerplay.

SRH vs GT Team news and Impact Player strategy

Sunrisers Hyderabad
Barring a collapse of sorts, like against Mumbai Indians when they had to bring in another batter in place of Abhishek Sharma, SRH are likely to swap a frontline batter for a bowler such as T Natarajan, Umran Malik or Jaydev Unadkat.

Gujarat Titans
GT have tried the most players (23) this season while trying to find their best combination and ended their campaign without possibly getting there. This could be a chance for them to give some of less-tried players more chances, such as Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar and BR Sharath.

SRH vs GT In the spotlight: VijayKanth Viyaskanth and Shubman Gill

SRH gave wrist spinner VijayKanth Viyaskanth his first game last week in which he gave away just 27 runs in his four overs. He came into this season as Wanindu Hasaranga’s replacement and even though those are massive shoes to fill, another promising outing for Viyaskanth on Thursday will prove that his economy rate of 5.43 for MI Emirates in the ILT20 this year was not a one-off.

Shubman Gill’s strike rate dipped from 157.80 in IPL 2023 to 147.40 this IPL in a season when more runs and more sixes are being hit than never before. He may have done that to shoulder more responsibility as captain, which often happens in the IPL, but with the T20 World Cup coming up, in which he is among the traveling reserves, Gill would want to sign off this IPL with a bang.

SRH vs GT Vital Stats that matters