Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals, 11th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

After their loss to Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad came back well by registering a thumping win over Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, SRH will have little time to dwell on their eight-wicket win against RCB. After their two away games, Sunrisers face a stiff task at home as they will be hosting Rajasthan Royals, who are on a three-match winning streak.

David Warner has been in fine form, notching up back-to-back half-centuries, and he will be looking to extend his good run. Shikhar Dhawan too came up with a mature fifty against RCB, which augurs well for SRH, as does KL Rahul's fine showing against the Bangalore franchise. Ravi Bopara's bowling has served the team well in both the matches so far and SRH will be hoping that the England allrounder continues doing a good job. They will also be hoping for Kane Williamson to come up with a sizeable contribution.

Not often does one find Dale Steyn warming the bench, an indication that Trent Boult has grabbed the brass ring as the fast bowling spearhead. Sunrisers got their team composition right against RCB. Swapping Ishant Sharma with Praveen Kumar proved to be sensible. The Uttar Pradesh seamer is expected to retain his place. Ashish Reddy and Parvez Rasool may be fighting for a spot but both players did not make the most of the opportunities they got.

RR have not done much wrong this season, and despite Shane Watson missing all three matches so far with a hip injury, Steve Smith has proven to be an able leader. Three wins in a row means everything is boding well for Royals, whose upbeat spirit is evidence of their clinical display on the field. After brushing aside Kings XI Punjab by 26 runs in their opening game, RR emerged victorious over Delhi Daredevils in a humdinger. Their most recent win - a breezy seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians - has made them the team to reckon with.

Shane Watson has not completely recovered from his injury, which means that Royals are likely to persist with their winning team. Sanju Samson's struggle at the top may be a concern. The management might be tempted to push Karun Nair up the order and play Samson in the middle-order.

Steve Smith donned the captain's hat for Rajasthan Royals again and he chose to bowl first. RR were unchanged while SRH made one change by leaving out Kane Williamson and bringing Eoin Morgan in his place. Is this the right move? Only time will tell.

Teams:

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner(c), Lokesh Rahul, Naman Ojha(w), Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Ashish Reddy, Karn Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Trent Boult

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson(w), Steven Smith(c), Karun Nair, Deepak Hooda, Stuart Binny, James Faulkner, Chris Morris, Tim Southee, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe

David Warner was early into a pull while Shikhar Dhawan played and missed a couple of times and even edged one that landed short of first slip. Tim Southee bowled a fine opening over as he kept the SRH batsmen on their toes and conceded only one run. The edge off Dhawan's bat that landed short of Smith at first slip was referred to the third umpire as the RR skipper reckoned he was not sure if it carried. After multiple replays from different angles, the umpires arrived at the decision to let Dhawan carry on.

Off the first ball of the second over, Warner pulled Chris Morris and the ball only just evaded Southee at mid-on - who got a finger tip to the ball - to give the Aussie opener his first four. Warner was a lot more in control of his shot-making off the next ball as he whipped it square of cover-point for his second boundary, and managed his third four by caressing the fourth delivery past cover-point. Twelve runs came off the Morris over.

Dhawan's first four came off Deepak Hooda in the third over when he came down the track and flicked the ball to the mid-wicket boundary. Hooda though managed to complete the over without much damage as he conceded six. Dhawal Kulkarni mixed his pace well in the fourth over to keep Warner guessing. Dhawan then charged down and went over cover for a four. However, Dhawal came back well by bowling one short of a length to get the Indian left-hander to edge to the keeper. Dhawan departed on 10, leaving SRH at 25/1 after four.

Southee's next over started with Warner upper-cutting him over point for a maximum. The SRH captain was looking in ominous form, but to Rajasthan's delight, he had to depart after a poor bit of running between the wickets. Rahul, after being struck high on the pads, called for a quick single as the ball rolled to the left of backward point. Warner responded late and was well short of the crease when Rahane hit the stumps on the direct at the striker's end.

SRH suffered a further setback when Rahul was trapped in front by Dhawal in the sixth over. It was an excellent over from Dhawan, who picked up a wicket maiden to leave SRH in a lot of trouble at 35/3 at the end of the batting powerplay.