IPL qualifier 2: Hyderabad to take on Rajasthan today

THE opponents to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 will be decided on Friday (24) when former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will meet in the second qualifier at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in the southern city of Chennai.

While this will be Hyderabad's second attempt to reach the title round after they were beaten comprehensively by Kolkata in the first qualifier in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (21), Rajasthan halted Royal Challengers Bengaluru's juggernaut in the eliminator at the same venue the next day to set up their date with SRH.

RR, who were at the first position in the tournament till the halfway point of the tournament, lost four consecutive games and faced a washout to end up as the third side behind KKR and SRH. But they silenced all critics by beating Bengaluru by four wickets and need to win against Hyderabad to make their third final after 2008 and 2022.

Read: Former CSK star taunts Kohli's RCB after eliminator loss: 'Celebration, aggression...'

Hyderabad have a 10-9 advantage over Rajasthan in their head-to-head meetings after they won their clash in the current edition played at home ground on May 2 by a solitary run. Chasing 202 to win, RR were restricted to 200 despite half centuries from Riyan Parag (77) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (67), both of whom played key roles in their team's win in the eliminator.

SRH have exhibited some ruthless batting in this tournament but failed to click in the first qualifier against Kolkata. The likes of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen would hope to deliver in the knock-out clash against Rajasthan while Yuzvendra Chahal would like to regain some form before the T20 World Cup starting next month.

Read: Bengaluru's fairytale run ends as Rajasthan knock them out of IPL 2024

Given the fact that Chahal went for many runs in the match against Hyderabad in the league stage, he would look forward to pull things back in Friday's game. The wicket in Chennai might help him in getting some turn.

Chahal is the sixth highest wicket-taker in the 2024 edition of the IPL with 18 scalps in 14 outings. Last month, he became the first bowler to complete 200 wickets in the tournament.