IPL Final 2024: What are Sunrisers Hyderabad's biggest strengths and weaknesses?

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are one step away from winning their second IPL title. They take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL final 2024 on Sunday (26 May) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. KKR stormed into the final after finishing first in the points table and beating SRH in the Qualifier 1, but Sunrisers made a comeback with a win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Qualifier 2.

IPL final, KKR vs SRH: Schedule, time, venue, live telecast and streaming details

SRH haven’t been the most consistent side in IPL 2024 and finished second in the points table by having a better NRR over Rajasthan. After setting the record for highest totals multiple times in the ongoing season, it seemed like they could be runaway leaders but it wasn’t the case. Nonetheless, they have done enough to reach the final and will pose a lot of danger to KKR.

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IPL Final 2024:  What are KKR’ biggest strengths and weaknesses?

With just one more game to go for Pat Cummins’s side in the 2024 edition, here’s a look at their strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths

Powerplay batting: There’s no one better than SRH when it comes to scoring quickly in the powerplay in IPL 2024. Sunrises boast a run rate of 11.47 in the first six overs with Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma leading the charge. Head and Abhishek have scored 567 and 482 runs respectively this season with strike rates of 192 and 208 and SRH will once again rely on their openers to give them a flying start in the final.

Pat Cummins’ captaincy: Another factor that has worked in SRH’s favour is the calm and astute leadership of Cummins during the IPL 2024. Unlike teams like Mumbai Indians (MI) or Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), SRH are probably short on star power but they make up for it by collectively pitching in. Apart from Head and Abhishek, Heinrich Klassen (463) and Nitish Reddy (290) have also played match-winning innings while T Natarajan (19 wickets), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (11 wickets) and Cummins (17 wickets) have taken care of bowling duties.

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Cummins who won the World Test Championship and ODI World Cup last year as a captain with Australia has somehow managed to help all the SRH players raise their level and fire collectively. One of the best examples of this was using Abhishedk as a bowler for four overs against RR in Qualifier 2. The opener took two wickets and helped neutralise the threat from RR batters. The decision to use an extra spinner on a friendly track in Chennai was also no less than a masterclass.

Ability to come back: Another thing that can favour SRH in the final is their ability to keep bouncing back. Apart from a four-game winning streak somewhere close to the start of IPL 2024, SRH have failed to maintain the winning momentum. After every win, they went on to lose the next match but still found a way to the final by winning the big matches. Whether it was against RR in Qualifier 2 or against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the end of the league phase to finish second in the table. That same ability to come back can come in handy in the final.

Weaknesses

Spin bowling a major issue: Yes, SRH won Qualifier 2 on the back of their spinners as Shahbaz Ahmed and Abhishek combined to take five wickets together and the venue for the final – Chennai – will assist the spinners but Hyderabad have not been consistently well with their spin bowling in IPL 2024. Their spinners collectively took 18 wickets in the league phase of IPL 2024, which was the second worst, and KKR by the way have some of the best spinners in Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy.

Pacers are not so great as well: Even SRH pacers haven’t covered themselves with glory. With 59 wickets together in the league phase, they were the fourth worst. Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar, Cummins and Reddy have done just enough so far but this can backfire in any game.

Powerplay blues: It’s becoming very clear that bowling is SRH’s biggest weakness and their worst comes in the death overs. They have given away runs at a run rate of 11.98 in the last four overs in IPL 2024, which is the third worst this season. The other two teams worse than SRH did not even reach the playoffs.