Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) is all set to lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the qualifier one clash at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday.
Both franchises have led the entertainment aspect of the league from the front with endless fours and sixes and kept statisticians busy by reaching new highs in T20 cricket. When it is all said and done, no doubt these two teams' 2024 season will be looked upon as a harbinger of a paradigm shift in T20 batting.
KKR ended up the season at the top with nine wins, three losses and two no results, with a total of 20 points. They also finished with a net run rate of +1.428, the highest by any team in the IPL history. SRH is at the second spot, with eight wins, five losses and one no result, giving them 16 points.
KKR and SRH have posted six 200-plus totals in this season, the most by any team. SRH has crossed the 250-run mark thrice, also making the highest IPL total ever, 287/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) while the KKR has done it twice.
A look at statistics and aspects which have made SRH's 2024 season such a memorable one:
*Lead in run-rate charts: Both KKR and SRH are also two of the biggest teams of the season when it comes to run rate, with KKR's run rate being 17.70 per over and SRH's run rate being a massive 19.11 per over.
*Orange Army deals in sixes: KKR-SRH are also among the best six-hitting teams of IPL 2024, with SRH at the top with 160 sixes, the most by a team in a T20 competition and KKR at number four with 125 maximums.
*SRH's game-changing powerplay batting: Coming to the powerplay batting, Sunrisers lead the charts, with a run rate of 11.79 per over. They have made 920 runs in 468 balls during this phase, with 95 fours and 55 sixes. SRH has played just 165 dot balls in this phase. SRH against Delhi Capitals, amassed 125 runs in just six overs, the highest-ever powerplay total in IPL history.
*KKR has made 788 runs in the powerplay, with 426 balls played. The Knights have 91 fours and 39 sixes in this phase, with only 173 dot balls played.
*Travi-Shek putting up blockbuster numbers: The opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma has changed the fortunes for SRH. Between 2021-23, the Sunrisers had turned into an inconsistent batting side that just could not attract much eyeballs after David Warner and Jonny Bairstow left. Now, Head and Abhishek have made sure that everyone's eyeballs are glued to their devices whenever they are batting.
*Travis is the man for big stages. He is the third-highest run-getter in this season, with 533 runs in 12 games at an average of 48.45 and a strike rate of over 201, with a century and four fifties. It would not be surprising if Head once again comes up with a blockbuster performance, as he has done for Australia over the years.
*Abhishek has matched his much well-accomplished and senior Aussie partner really well, ball for ball, six for six. He also has 41 sixes this season, the most by a player. Abhishek in 13 innings has scored 467 runs, the ninth most by a batter this season, at an average of 38.91 and a strike rate of 209.41. He scored three half-centuries, with the best score of 75*.
*Fine young Indian talent: Besides Abhishek, Abdul Samad, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shahbaz Ahmed have performed exceedingly well whenever given a chance. Nitish, a pace-bowling all-rounder, has been a stand-out and at 20 years of age, is already being looked at as a future replacement for Hardik Pandya.
Reddy has been a great find for SRH this season, winning hearts and grabbing eyeballs with his classy, calm and composed batting, six-hitting and useful pace bowling. In 10 matches, he scored 276 runs in eight innings at an average of 46.00 and a strike rate of 151.64, with two fifties. He has also taken three wickets.
*Captain Cummins leading from the front: Pat Cummins has taken 15 wickets in 13 games, a lot of them being crucial. With some important batting cameos and changing the playing style of SRH with his fierce captaincy, Cummins has been worthy of every rupee of the total of 20.5 crores spent by SRH. Having already conquered the ODI and Test world titles for Australia, Cummins saved SRH from their slump in the early 2020s and made them a must-see team, which is ever-ready to entertain fans with their aggressive brand of cricket that gives everything for a win.
*A brilliant pace unit: SRH's pace unit, particularly Cummins, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natrajan has been great this season. Cummins, Bhuvneshwar and Natrajan have taken 43 out of a total of 72 wickets by SRH at an average of 30.88 and a strike rate of 20.13. Jaydev Unadkat (eight wickets), and Nitish (three wickets) have also chipped in with some contributions.
