IPL 2021 Match Prediction: Sunrisers Hyderabad versus Rajasthan Royals. 40th Match. Who Will Win?

The 2021 IPL is cruising along, and Saturday was a day full of amazing cricket and emotions. There were two matches on Saturday, and both the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Rajasthan Royals were on the losing side although they had to chase totals that many considered to be under-par. They are now going to face each other in the 40th match of the 2021 IPL, and it is a match that both will be desperate to win.

However, there can be only one winner, so read on to find out our IPL prediction of who we think will claim a vital two points.

Sunrisers Hyderabad Team Preview

It must suck to be a Sunrisers Hyderabad fan at the moment. They used to be a really strong side, but they are a shadow of themselves this time around. They have been so bad this year that they, despite having five matches left to play, are practically eliminated from the competition.

From the 9 matches that they have played, they have won only once and have a really bad net run rate. To be fair to their bowlers, they have done pretty well, but their batsman have let them down on far too many occasions. Against the Punjab Kings, they only had to chase down 125 to win, but David Warner scored just two runs, Kane Williamson was bowled for one, while Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, and Abdul Samad all failed too. In their allotted 20 overs, they could only muster 120 runs.

Despite practically having been eliminated, they are going to want to give their fans something to cheer about in the last five games, but their senior players are going to have to step it up a couple of gears if they do not want things to get a little bit more embarrassing.

Rajasthan Royals Team Preview

They will have been gutted to have lost their last match against the Delhi Capitals because at the halfway stage of their innings, it looked like they were cruising home. On a surface that was not too hard to bat on, the Royals gave away too many of their wickets, and when you do that in the IPL, you will pay the ultimate price. They are still in with a chance for a play-off spot, but will need to play very well if they are to qualify.

The Royals currently sit in sixth place in the table, but they can jump into the fourth position if they win and some of the other results go their way. From the nine games that they have played, they have won four of them and lost the other five. They currently have a net run rate that stands at -0.319, so they will want to try and improve this in their remaining matches.

In their last match, the Royals were far too casual with the bat when things were under their control. Apart from Sanju Samson, who scored 70 runs from 53 balls, nobody else managed to stay for any length of time at the wicket. One of the biggest disappointments was seeing Liam Livingston dismissed in the first over for just one run.

The Rajasthan Royals have a decent team on paper, but Chris Morris' absence in the last game meant that they were a bit short in batting depth, and this did go on to hurt them. There will probably be some changes to the playing eleven in this match, and it will be quite interesting to see which four overseas players get the nod.

Coin Toss

The captain that gets lucky and wins the toss will more than likely opt to bowl first due to the fact that the Dubai International Cricket Stadium is a ground where the team batting second has a slight advantage over the team that bats first. In the IPL in 2020, the team that batted second won 16 of 26 matches. So, we would be surprised if the winning captain decides to bat first.

Pitch Conditions

This is one of those pitches where the fast bowlers have been known to have some success down the years. For example, in the 2020 IPL, fast bowlers picked up 180 wickets in Dubai, while spinners picked up 94. This is not an easy pitch to slog on, but those players who play proper cricket shots can score some decent runs on it. The team that bats first will want to score at least 170, since this is a score that they will believe that they can defend on the wicket.

Our Match Prediction

We are steadily getting to the business end of the competition and each game carries huge importance. Although the Royals' destiny is still in their own hands, were they to lose here then panic alarms will probably start ringing. On the other hand, the Sunrisers Hyderabad are basically out and have nothing to lose, so they might be more dangerous now that the pressure is of them. If we compare the recent performances of both teams and their results, we would say that the Royals are just slightly ahead. Also, they should be more motivated to perform well, since a play-off place is still up for grabs. Thus, we are going to back the Royals to win the match.

Our match prediction: