Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will take on the Gujarat Titans in their penultimate game of the 2024 edition of the IPL as they look to push for the second spot on the points table, to have two bites at the cherry in terms of qualifying for the final. SRH will be taking the field after a week's rest as they played two back-to-back games and would be feeling relaxed and refreshed given they have the destiny in their own hands and especially with how they have played at home, in Hyderabad.
The Titans were knocked out of the tournament in their last game after the clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Titans were supposed to wear the lavender jersey as part of their cancer awareness game. Since they couldn't, they will be playing in lavender on Thursday and it seems that their secondary jersey is also attracting rain, first in Ahmedabad and now in Hyderabad.
As per Accuweather, the afternoon and evening showers would stop before the match starts even though the groundsmen will have much work to do before that. The first two hours, the forecast predicts no rain but it will be cloudy throughout the evening. Weather.com predicts no rain for the evening after 6:30 PM.
However, Accuweather shows thunderstorms on the radar around 9-10 PM, which might disrupt the proceedings and could even shorten the game. A result is likely on the cards, but yes it could be a stop-start night with the pre-monsoon rains presiding over the country in the last week or so. The Titans had their last game washed out and the Sunrisers will definitely want the game to take place given they have a real chance of sealing that second spot.
If the rain washes away the Thursday clash, the Orange Army despite winning their next game will have to wait for the result of RR vs KKR to know if they are playing the first qualifier or the eliminator.
