Orange army

SunRisers Hyderabad was rated highly by experts prior to the start of the season and right after analyzing the squads of all the franchises after the player auction. But they looked shattered after their chief commander David Warner was suspended for one-year due to the ball-tampering saga, just 12 days before the IPL was scheduled to start. Most of those experts who rated SRH high started questioning the team's capability at least to make it to the top 4.  Soon the Orangearmy decided that The KIWI captain Kane Williamson would lead them this season. Many questioned the skill of Kane in this format as he wouldn't have made it to the final 11 if Warner was available. But King Kane proved everyone wrong and went on to win the Orange-cap with 735 runs at a whopping Strike rate of 142.44. He has led his team to the finals with his calm, composed and tactical brain in a Most stylish way.  As the Season has ended for the SRH finishing Runners-up they would be upbeat about the Fa...

Points table-wise, not much has changed for Royal Challengers Bangalore from the time they last played a home game on May 1. The last 15 days on the road has seen them bag a 50% success rate in four fixtures, and thus, just about cling on in the playoffs race in what's turning out to be one of the most tightly-contested seasons of the IPL. Yet, Virat Kohli & Co. return to their home ground with a feeling that there's still time to turn the tide. There is an idea of 'desperation' that Kohli has conveyed to his squad as even after their first back-to-back wins since IPL 2016, RCB still need two more to even stay in the hunt. "I suppose we approach it like the last three games. We know the scenario and the only way we can give ourselves that opportunity is having the desperation. I think the way that it appears to me visually is the way Virat bats. He plays unencumbered and he plays aggressive, particularly in that Powerplay. We have seen in the last two gam...

118,132,152 and 146 these are the scores which Sunrisers Hyderabad defended this season courtesy some extra-ordinary bowling performance. They are presently leading the points table with 8 wins out of 10 games. Today they are all set to face the DD's at Ferozshah Kotla. Orangearmy looks to continue their winning run and cement their spot in the Top of the leaderboard whereas the Struggling Daredevils look to start a winning run. With the present scenario, it is unlikely that the boys from Delhi make it to the top 4 but they have the capability to upset the teams which are in contention. Delhi's batsman had a good outing this season as the likes of Rishab, Shreyas, young Prthivi shaw had a good amount of runs and confidence under their belt. On the other hand, SRH looks to continue their good outing this season, Batting has been their area of concern as no one except Their skipper Kane Williamson scored more than 200 runs this season. With Alex Hales inclusion their batting lo...

Come Saturday night, it's a battle between audacious stroke-makers and astute arm-rollers. When you think of Sunrisers Hyderabad, the first thing that strikes your mind is their bowling. Their mantra - Choke, squeeze, strangle. Repeat. If their defense of 132 was inspiring, their defense of 118 was jaw-dropping. They are one team that proves Twenty20 cricket is not just all about wham-bam action and beautifies the game with thrillers out of nothing. They have not even felt the absence of their main weapon Bhuvneshwar Kumar - the one who troubles batsmen with swing, cutters, yorkers, knuckles and more. In the last three games, Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, and Basil Thampi have collective figures of 29.1-0-156-14. An economy rate of 5.36 despite operating in the toughest of times - powerplay and the death overs - speaks volumes of the depth in the team. Add to it a shrewd learner in Rashid Khan, who corrects mistakes quickly. Their batting though...