Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals have already secured their spots in the IPL 2024 playoffs.
New Delhi: Sunrisers Hyderabad will hope for a rain washout on Thursday against Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024 as the 2016 champions need just a point to seal their final four spot. With 14 points from 12 games, SRH are sitting third in the IPL 2024 points table. Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings too are sitting on 14 points. One point against Gujarat Titans would take the Pat Cummins-led side to 15 points, thereby making themselves secure in the race to playoffs. With Delhi Capitals having finished their league engagements, the result of Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Chennai Super Kings game would also have no effect as SRH will remain inside the top four. Further, SRH can stake a claim for the two spot in their final game against Punjab Kings.
Scheduled to start at 7:30 PM IST, the match is yet to start at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium due to persistent rain. Earlier, before the scheduled original toss time, captains of both sides were caught having a serious chat with the match officials. If this game washes out, this will be second game to have such fate. Earlier, Gujarat Titans’ home game against KKR too washed out without a ball being bowled.
On the other hand, the Titans, who have only five wins from 13 games and are on 11 points, are out of the reckoning and are looking to end their forgettable campaign on a high. With former skipper Hardik Pandya moving to Mumbai Indians this season, Gujarat Titans struggled to find a replacement for the all-rounder who was key to their title-winning run in 2022 and runners-up finish last year.
The absence of pacer Mohammed Shami, who was ruled out of the tournament due to injury, has also hurt them. Gujarat Titans’ bowling hasn’t been as effective this season, with inconsistent pacers and leaky spinners. Mohit Sharma’s variations and knuckle balls were particularly effective, and Rashid Khan’s clever bowling was noticeable. They’ll hope for an encore.