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Defending champions <keyword id="1494441" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sunrisers-Hyderabad">Sunrisers Hyderabad</keyword> (SRH) will aim to consolidate their stay in their top three positions of the <keyword id="6354831" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Premier-League">Indian Premier League</keyword> (IPL) standings when they take on <keyword id="13883" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kings-XI-Punjab">Kings XI Punjab</keyword> (KXIP) in an away game at the I.S. Bindra Stadium here on Friday. 
 
With just three wins from seven matches, the home side are currently placed fifth, one short of where they would at least like to be at the end of the league format.

IPL 2017, KXIP vs SRH: Defending champs look to retain their position in the top three

It has been widely said that having the best batsman or the best bowler in the side isn't alone going to help a team win tournaments and no one exemplifies this theory more than Sunrisers Hyderbad. Boasting one of the stronger sides on paper, they had the firepower required to go all the way but were incapable of repeating last year's success and crashed out in the league phase of <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> 7. Their campaign was marred by a few bizarre decisions taken by the team management, which eventually led to their demise. They swapped <keyword id="17805" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Shikhar-Dhawan">Shikhar Dhawan</keyword> with Darren Sammy as the captain at the fag end of the tournament, sent <keyword id="60604" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="David-Warner">David Warner</keyword> - one of the most destructive openers of the current era - down the order for most of the season and experimented with the batting order repeatedly. All these factors combined with over-dependence on reputed names did them in. 

	Provided they had delivered the goods, SRH could have finished a lot better than what they did - sixth in the points table - if not lift the trophy.
 

	IPL 7 record: Played 14, Won 6, Lost 8, Points 12
 Sunrisers didn't quite start their IPL 7 crusade in a manner they would have liked. A lukewarm start in the UAE, where they lost three of their first five matches, denied them the early momentum they would have hoped for. The wins came against a muddled <keyword id="6354884" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Delhi-Daredevils">Delhi Daredevils</keyword> and a then-woeful Mumbai Indians. The India leg too didn't witness much of a difference and they could manage only four wins out of nine. However, a late surge saw them beat <keyword id="6354506" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Royal-Challengers-Bangalore">Royal Challengers Bangalore</keyword> and Chennai Super Kings in back-to-back games but it came a little too late as the equation got stiffer. In their last league match, they need to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by a massive margin, which in the end proved too much. 

	High point
 By the time it arrived, matters were already out of hand. After an average UAE leg, the last few matches in India saw Sunrisers live up to their batting-heavy reputation. Prior to their second match against <keyword id="13883" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Kings-XI-Punjab">Kings XI Punjab</keyword> in Hyderabad, SRH's previous best was 184/1 against DD - one of the weaker sides in the tournament. But against KXIP they notched up 205/5 - their highest total in the IPL - but unfortunately ended up second-best. With their backs to the wall, SRH pulled off back-to-back wins against RCB and CSK to give themselves a chance for a play-off spot, be it a slight one. 

	Low point
 

	When they were bundled out for their lowest total this season - 121 against KXIP. Chasing 194 was always going to be a tough ask but no one expected their batting to do this badly. Only Lokesh Rahul spent time at the crease and top-scored with 27. As many as five batsman fell between 10-20. L Balaji took 4/13 and got the all-important wickets of Aaron Finch (19), Warner (8) and Sammy (15).
 

	Captaincy verdict
 

	The appointment of Dhawan as captain was perhaps not a wise decision considering the kind of form he was in prior to the tournament. His initial few scores were 38, 1, 33, 7 and 6 for an average of 17. It took Dhawan 12 innings to register his first half-century of the season and it came when Sammy was given charge of the team. Dhawan ended IPL 7 with 377 runs in 14 matches at an average of 29. His form was a major setback and it reflected in his captaincy as well. When Glenn Maxwell and David Miller went hammer and tongs, Dhawan looked listless as a leader and his shoulders dropped. The body language didn't indicate the best of signs either. Perhaps Sammy should have been the first choice for the post considering his experience leading West Indies.
 

	Most valuable player
 

	Not too many might have expected Bhuvneshwar Kumar to put up a show like he did: 20 wickets from 14 games at an economy of 6.65. His bowling had rhythm and he got the ball to swing both ways. He stood out in the Powerplays - his dot balls accounting to almost 60 percent - and was exceptional in the death overs.
 

	Also, not many SRH batsmen delivered but the David Warner batted, he clearly seemed to be in the wrong team at the wrong time. Despite being shuffled in the line-up, the Australian opener managed to hit a purple patch with 528 runs from 14 matches at an average of 48. He scored six half-centuries, the most by any batsman this season and his 90 against CSK was a pioneer innings.
 

	Major disappointment
 Not one but two. While IPL's second-highest wicket-taker <keyword id="74737" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Amit-Mishra">Amit Mishra</keyword> was far from his best, Dale Steyn leaked runs frequently. SRH played Mishra in 10 games, in which he scalped seven wickets at an average of 48.57. He went wicketless in four consecutive games and his economy-rate has been 9.06 - an alarming stat considering Mishra has never gone above 8.02 in the last six editions. On the other hand, with 11 wickets from 14 games, Steyn has gone at an economy of 7.69. Thrice was he taken for above 20 runs in an over - 24 by <keyword id="77602" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="AB-de-Villiers">AB de Villiers</keyword>, 23 by MS Dhoni and 26 by Yusuf Pathan, all of which Sunrisers lost. Another telling stat being he has conceded 46 boundaries this season - the most by any bowler. Clearly, not something people want to associate with the world's No. 1 ranked bowler. 

	Verdict
 

	An overall disappointment. SRH were expected to pose some real threat to their oppositions in the beginning of the tournament but instead fell flat in their approach. The big guns failed to step up to the occasion as no one except Warner has performed consistently. The No. 1 ranked Twenty20 batsman, Finch, managed only 309 runs from 13 innings with two half-centuries. Also, the inability to strike a correct team composition in the initial stages was a big letdown and that is what stopped them from setting the right tone.
 

	Must do for 2015
 

	First and foremost, the skipper needs to lead from the front and make sure his side sticks to the basics. Then, make sure his best batsmen open the innings and face the maximum number of balls. Third, persist with the opening pair of Warner and Finch with Dhawan at No.3 and not tinker with it. SRH would also expect more of the domestic crop to leave an impact and not rely too much on reputed foreign names. This might sound easier than done but once executed, they might do what their successors Deccan Chargers did in 2009.

IPL Review: Irrational Choices Cost SRH

On Tuesday, Kolkata Knight Riders will continue their fairy-tale run in the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League with their Qualifier against pre-tournament favourites Kings XI Punjab. KXIP dropped just six points on their way to the Play-offs, while the 2012 champions began their campaign on a horrid note, picked up in the middle and made it into the last four thanks to a seven-match winning streak.
 

	Four players have played a crucial hand in their dramatic turnaround, and will hold the key in putting it past KXIP in front of a capacity crowd at their home ground, the Eden Gardens.
 

	Robin Uthappa
 Much like other teams, <keyword id="6354544" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="KKR">KKR</keyword> were also chopping and changing in their bid to find the right eleven players during the UAE leg of the tournament, a period during which they suffered. The opening combination didn't fit with Gautam Gambhir in woeful touch and Jacques Kallis failing to find fifth gear, while Manish Pandey and Manvinder Bisla couldn't answer the call. UAE leg over, and Uthappa was pushed to open the innings and to the average fan, he single-handedly scripted the turnaround. 

	Since opening the innings, Uthappa has gone on to topple Glenn Maxwell and Dwayne Smith to become the leading run-scorer with an envious run of form: 47, 65, 47, 46, 80, 40, 67, 83* and 41 have been his previous nine innings. Uthappa has been the backbone of KKR's batting thanks to which big-hitters like Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan have flourished. Against KXIP, he will be the key to flatten a KXIP side who have been on a roll of their own.
 

	Sunil Narine
 

	The West Indian was retained by the franchise for a very specific reason, and he hasn't disappointed. Narine is the best on show as far as his craft is concerned, and remains a threat against any team thanks to his deadly accurate offspin. In the two previous games against KXIP, Narine had figures of 3 for 24 and 1 for 30 from his four overs. While KKR couldn't get over the line in Abu Dhabi, they managed to do so in Cuttack. Narine has also been the tournament's leading wicket-taker so far, tied on 20 from 13 games with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
 

	While Bhuvneshwar's Sunrisers Hyderabad have been eliminated, Narine has a chance to consolidate his position further. While he hasn't taken wickets with as much regularity as he would have liked, teams have found it difficult to score against him. Gambhir has used him intelligently - Narine bowls two, sometimes three overs at the back end of the innings and that's where teams have struggled against him. In addition to his 20 scalps, Narine has been the most economical too, going at 6.00 runs per over. Only twice have KXIP not managed to score over 150 in completed innings, and both have come against the bowling attack featuring Narine.
 

	Yusuf Pathan
 

	KKR's batting order worries in the UAE were not only attributed to the top order, but the failure of their middle order to hold them together. Yusuf Pathan showed glimpses of his old spark in a defeat to Chennai Super Kings, but the Yusuf known for his belligerence was missing.
 

	Against SRH at Eden Gardens, however, Yusuf rose to the occasion with a blistering 72 from just 22 balls that took his team home in a big chase in just 14.2 overs. KKR had given themselves two chances at the final, and while everything else fell into place since returning to India, the spark in Yusuf that was missing ensured they were firing on all cylinders.
 

	Yusuf had tore into Dale Steyn for 26 in an over, and how he counters the pace of Mitchell Johnson and co. could determine the outcome of the fixture.
 

	Shakib Al Hasan
 

	Two agonizingly close defeats to Rajasthan Royals - the one with the Super Over and the other that featured the implosion - had threatened to derail KKR's campaign, but the Bangladesh allrounder ensured they came close. Since then, though, Shakib has played an important part in some of KKR's victories with both bat and ball.
 

	Shakib is has been second best only to Narine in terms of economy rate, and has broken crucial stands with his left-arm spin, providing an able back-up to Narine from the other end. His hard-hitting innings of 60 and 46* ensured victories over Royal Challengers Bangalore and CSK, keeping KKR's winning streak unbroken. Together with Narine, he will be tasked with keeping a big-hitting KXIP batting line-up at bay, and batting at No 5 to see the team to either a big total or home in a chase.

IPL: KKR's Fantastic Four Who Will Be Key In The Last Four

The race to the <keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword> 7 play-offs has become tense. One more week to go and two teams - <keyword id="13883" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Kings-XI-Punjab">Kings XI Punjab</keyword> and <keyword id="13886" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Chennai-Super-Kings">Chennai Super Kings</keyword> have confirmed their places in the top-four. Only Delhi Daredevils are out of contention with as many as five teams fighting it out for the remaining two spots. Here, gocricket.com takes a look at the top moments from week five. 

	Simmons leads MI recovery <keyword id="13880" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Mumbai-Indians">Mumbai Indians</keyword> have managed to keep their slim hopes of a play-off spot alive with vital wins against two of the top three teams of this season, with Lendl Simmons playing a leading role both times. First they outsmarted <keyword id="13802" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Rajasthan-Royals">Rajasthan Royals</keyword> at their second home in Motera after reading the surface correctly and including an extra spinner, that eventually made the difference. MI used three spinners compared to RR's lone spinner and won the game by 25 runs to stay in the fray. Simmons scored a brisk 62 in an opening stand of 121, which was Mumbai's best start in 40 matches. 
	 

	Against Kings XI Punjab on Wednesday, Simmons hit the first century of the season with an unbeaten 100 off 61 balls to lead their chase of 157. If they win their remaining two games and a few other results go their way, MI could qualify for the play-offs of a tournament at the beginning of which they lost five consecutive games. 
	 

	Seven in a row for DD
 

	At the other end of the spectrum are the Daredevils, who in the past seven days continued their miserable run with two more defeats which extended their losing run to seven in a row. This season they have won only two games - both during the UAE leg of the tournament - meaning they are the only team yet to taste victory in India. The Delhi-based franchise continues to languish at the bottom of the points table and with just two games remaining, have nothing but pride to play for. The closest they came to a win was against KXIP at the Feroz Shah Kotla where the match went into the final over. However, as their legspinner Imran Tahir observed, luck has deserted the team.
 

	Pollard leaves Motera stunned
 

	Against RR at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Kieron Pollard took what could be the catch of the season to dismiss Kevon Cooper. Cooper's back-foot swap appeared set to end up behind the long-on boundary, but suddenly encountered Pollard on its way as the West Indian leapt, caught the ball one-handed, found himself pushed over the ropes due to momentum but somehow kept his balance to throw the ball back in play. Pollard recovered in a flash, then ran in, dived forward and caught the ball - all within a few seconds. It was seriously exhilarating viewing.
 

	Watto gets it wrong
 

	Call it complacency or plain misjudgement on the part of Royals, who made four changes to their line-up against MI in the same match - resting the formidable trio of Pravin Tambe, Ajinkya Rahane and Steven Smith. On a pitch assisting spinners, Mumbai replaced one of their batsmen with an extra spinner in Shreyas Gopal and the unheralded legspinnner, in his first T20 match ever, picked two wickets. Royals had just one specialist spinner in Ankit Sharma whereas MI had three - each of them picking two wickets.
 

	Shining knight
 Robin Uthappa has climbed the batting charts to be now placed at No. 2 in the top run-getters list of IPL 7 and his consistency has helped <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> Knight Riders to five successive wins. Twice in the past week, against <keyword id="1494441" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Sunrisers-Hyderabad">Sunrisers Hyderabad</keyword> and Chennai Super Kings, they emerged winners thanks largely to Uthappa's solid presence at the top. He scored 40 against SRH and then at Eden Gardens, clobbered 10 boundaries in his 67 to lead another successful chase. Uthappa's 489 runs have been scored at an average 40.75 and a strike rate that touches 134. His consistency has led many to suggest that a return to the national side is imminent. 

	Burden off Dhawan's shoulders 
 

	Just about half an hour before their 11th game of the season, SRH surprised everyone with the appointment of a new captain in Darren Sammy. A poor show with the bat worked against Shikhar Dhawan as the SRH top brass took the 'extra burden' off his shoulders so as to help him focus on his batting. It seems to have worked as Dhawan scored his first fifty of the season against Royal Challengers Bangalore, giving SRH a new lease of life for a final four finish.

Weekly Review: Race For The Play-Offs Heats Up

The third week of IPL 7 in India was probably more exciting than the previous two weeks in the UAE thanks to some great individual performances and a big run-in between <keyword id="61632" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Kieron-Pollard">Kieron Pollard</keyword> and Mitchell Starc. Here, gocricket.com chronicles the eye-catching events that unfolded over the course of last week. 
 
Tambe spins magic with first hat-trick this season 
 At the age of 42, <keyword id="13802" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Rajasthan-Royals">Rajasthan Royals</keyword> legspinner Tambe is having the time of his life. Look at his performances in the tournament from day one, he has been nothing short of brilliant. However, this week Tambe took his game to another level and helped RR register a win from an unlikely position against Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad on May 5. Chasing 171 to win, the Gautam Gambhir-led KKR were cruising at one time at 121 for 0 in 14 overs before RR captain <keyword id="6378477" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Shane-Watson">Shane Watson</keyword> took three wickets in an over to provide a big opening for his team. However, it was Tambe's hat-trick in the next over that actually put the nail in KKR's coffin. The wickets of Manish Pandey, <keyword id="18938" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Yusuf-Pathan">Yusuf Pathan</keyword> and Ryan ten Doeschate broke KKR's back badly and they ended up losing the match by 10 runs. Tambe's performance this season has proved that age has little significance nowadays in cricket and that it's fitness and willingness to do well that shapes a player's career. 
 
de Villiers breaks run-drought in style 
 It was long coming. AB de Villiers had an ordinary season prior to <keyword id="6354506" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Royal-Challengers-Bangalore">Royal Challengers Bangalore</keyword>'s game against <keyword id="1494441" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Sunrisers-Hyderabad">Sunrisers Hyderabad</keyword> on May 4 and when Virat Kohli's men were reduced to 59 for 4 in 10.1 overs chasing 159 to win, it appeared the match was as good as gone for RCB. Against all odds, de Villiers launched a rearguard action and smashed 89* off 41 balls with the help of six fours and eight sixes to see his side home in the last over. While de Villiers punished all SRH bowlers, his face-off with fellow South African and arguably the greatest bowler in the world at present, <keyword id="12829" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Dale-Steyn">Dale Steyn</keyword>, will be remembered for many years to come. In the penultimate over of the innings, de Viliers took 24 runs off Steyn, hitting three sixes and a four to turn the match on its head. 
 
Pollard-Starc altercation 
 The game between <keyword id="13880" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Mumbai-Indians">Mumbai Indians</keyword> and <keyword id="12643" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Royal-Challengers">Royal Challengers</keyword> Bangalore on May 6 will long be remembered for an ugly altercation between Kieron Pollard and Mitchell Starc. The run-in - towards the end of MI's innings - that saw the West Indian and the Australian almost come to blows, influenced the outcome of the match a great deal as MI took 54 runs off last 20 balls, thanks largely to captain <keyword id="13937" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Rohit-Sharma">Rohit Sharma</keyword>'s 59 off 35 balls, to post a mammoth 187 for 5. 
 
The drama began in the 17th over when Starc used some pretty choice language against Pollard after beating him with a bouncer. The West Indian disdainfully signed to Starc to go away, and off the next ball backed away from the crease at the last minute. Starc, instead of stopping himself, followed the West Indian on the legside and almost hit him, leaving a seething Pollard to throw his bat towards the bowler in a menacing way. 
 
However, the West Indian had the last laugh when he took a simple catch at extra cover to send Starc (5) back to the pavilion off the bowling of Lasith Malinga. Not just that, earlier in the match he had also accounted for the dangerous Yuvraj Singh's run out (6) using his footballing skills to great effect. 
 
The IPL Governing Council later on Wednesday fined both Pollard and Starc for breaching its code of conduct. 
 
Maxwell at it once again 
 Orange Cap holder Glenn Maxwell (435 runs in seven matches) fuelled his legend further smashing 90 off 38 balls in Kings XI Punjab's 44-run win over <keyword id="13886" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Chennai-Super-Kings">Chennai Super Kings</keyword> on May 7. The Australian put on view the switch-hit several times hitting eight sixes and six fours and it surely was his innings that made the difference. His approach against R Ashwin was particularly impressive. The India offspinner is normally very effective bowling around the wicket, but not against Maxwell on Wednesday evening. The Big Show smashed back-to-back sixes in the 11th over against the India offspinner who looked befuddled not knowing where he should land the ball, bowling two wides to boot. Things changed drastically after Ashwin's over, with KXIP scoring 162 in the last 10 overs to finish on 231 for 4. With the win against MS Dhoni's men, KXIP made it back to the top of the table with six wins in seven matches, while CSK go down to second after their second defeat in eight matches. 
 
Delhi Daredevils' sorry state 
 Delhi Daredevils took the wooden spoon last season and looking at their performance so far it seems another is on their way. The team under Kevin Pietersen looks absolutely spineless, especially in the bowling department. DD's defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders on May 7 was their sixth in eight matches and the way Pietersen ran himself out tells a great deal about his current state of mind. The former England batsman tapped a Shakib-al-Hasan delivery to offside and ran away for a single straight away, head down and without looking at non-striker batsman <keyword id="57265" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Murali-Vijay">Murali Vijay</keyword>. Wicketkeeper <keyword id="2231057" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Robin-Uthapa">Robin Uthapa</keyword> charged towards the ball, picked it up and ran Pietersen out in a flash with Vijay shaking his head in disbelief at the other end. 
 Pietersen's captaincy is also under the scanner for repeatedly not bringing the in-form duo of <keyword id="69475" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="JP-Duminy">JP Duminy</keyword> and Kedar Jadhav up the batting order. Fast bowler Mohammad Shami is another big concern for DD. He is one of the promising bowlers in the country but his performance so far in the tournament is worrying. Four wickets in eight matches at an economy rate of 8.34 don't justify his talent. At present, it's hard to imagine how DD are going to turn their fortunes around.

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IPL 2017, KXIP vs SRH: Defending champs look to retain their position in the top three

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IPL Review: Irrational Choices Cost SRH

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IPL: KKR's Fantastic Four Who Will Be Key In The Last Four

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IPL Week 3 Review: Tambe, De Villiers, Maxwell Steal The Show

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