Markable

Eoin Morgan will lead the Twenty20 side in the absence of Stuart Broad

Thursday, May 8, 2014
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT) 

Last season, consistency was one of the characteristics that defined Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad - their scrappy, minimal-fuss brand of cricket making them popular with fans. This season, however, while Royals have hit on a winning patch and surged to the top half of the table, Sunrisers, despite big additions to their batting, are faltering lower down.

In Sunrisers last game, AB de Villiers played the kind of innings few teams could have done anything about, but their two victories have shown how critical it is for their top order to fire. Perhaps the best example was their victory against Delhi Daredevils in the UAE, where Aaron Finch and Shikhar Dhawan added 56, the best opening stand for the side so far - which set the base for a score of 184. Compare that to their losses in which their highest total has been 155.

Like their batting, the Sunrisers bowling also relies heavily on two individuals - Amit Mishra and Dale Steyn. While Steyn will have recovered from the mauling by de Villiers, Sunrisers could bring back Mishra on a track that can be expected to be a little slower.

Royals settled into their new home ground with a win and they would like to keep that form going. They don't have a stellar away record in the IPL and with their next fixtures against Royal Challengers and Chennai Super Kings, a win here could give them a buffer.

Rajasthan Royals: WWWWL Sunrisers Hyderabad: LWLWL

Rajasthan Royals: 3rd, with 10 points from seven games
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 7th, with 4 points from six games

The teams opened their IPL 2014 campaigns against each other, with Royals huffing their way to a four-wicket win in the last over in Dubai. Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner got starts but Sunrisers were restricted to 133. The Royals reply, meanwhile, revolved solely around a fifty from Ajinkya Rahane and an unbeaten 48 from Stuart Binny, who rescued the chase from a position of 31 for 3.

Karun Nair played a valuable hand in Karnataka's Ranji Trophy title win this season and he seems to have found his feet for Royals too. He takes his time at the start, but once settled he has been unafraid to switch gears, even going after the faster bowlers in the opposition.

Batting at positions between No. 5 and 7, Darren Sammy has come in quite often with Sunrisers stuck in a rut. As the most important batsman in the lower order, his form has denied Sunrisers a final push, putting even more pressure on the top order.

"I just try to pick the best batsman in the team, preferably the one that generally bats at the death and is used to facing yorkers, slower ones and slower bouncers. I try and pair up with him when I can."
James Faulkner gives an insight into his death-bowling preparations.

England, Ireland, Scotland and Sri Lanka begin preparations for World Cup 2015

Download the Reliance ICC Rankings App via www.icc-cricket.com/mobile to predict the outcome of the series

One month after the conclusion of the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014, action in international cricket resumes this week and One-Day International (ODI) cricket will be in focus.

Dublin will host two ODIs between 1996 world champion Sri Lanka and the giant-killer of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, Ireland, on 6 and 8 May.

Then on 9 May in Aberdeen, three-time ICC Cricket World Cup finalist England will square-off against Scotland, which qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 by winning the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2014 earlier this year in New Zealand.

With just nine months to go before the start of the event, which runs between 14 February and 29 March, these three ODIs mean that the first phase of build-up for all sides has well and truly begun.

While England and Sri Lanka have more to lose, Ireland and Scotland have plenty to gain from their respective series.

Ireland currently sits in 11th place on the Reliance ICC ODI Team Rankings with 34 ratings points, and trails third-ranked Sri Lanka by 78 ratings points. Because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, Ireland will gain points if it wins even one match in the series.

Scotland, currently unranked, has an opportunity to inch closer to getting on to the main rankings table. However, to make that happen, it will have to beat England.

To get on to the main rankings table, Scotland needs to either win two ODIs against Full Members, or achieve one win in an ODI against a Full Member and also win more than 60 per cent of ODIs against other Associates.



Meanwhile, fans in Dublin and Aberdeen will get to see some of the biggest names in action during the ODIs to be played there.

Among the stars in the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Batsmen likely to be seen in action are Eoin Morgan (15th) and Alastair Cook (20th).

Among the bowlers inside the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers likely to be seen in action are James Anderson (eighth) and Angelo Mathews (16th).

Sri Lanka captain Mathews also starts the series against Ireland as the number-two ranked all-rounder on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI All-rounders.

Forthcoming fixtures:

Ireland v Sri Lanka

6 May: First ODI, Dublin

8 May: Second ODI, Dublin

Scotland v England

9 May: One-off ODI, Aberdeen

LG has sent out invites for a "big event" in London on May 27, with simultaneous satellite events in New York and San Francisco, as well as events in Seoul, Singapore and Istanbul the following day.

LG could not confirm the exact nature of the event(s), but it's rumored that the company will announce a new flagship smartphone, the LG G3, and quite possibly unveil its previously announced LG G Watch.

The tagline for the event — a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, "To be simple is to be great" — reveals little besides a likely showing of a G series device. But LG previously told Engadget it plans to launch the G3 in the second quarter of 2014. No specifications were given, except the fact that the phone's screen resolution will be Quad HD, possibly 2,560 x 1,440 pixels.

LG recently launched a microsite detailing some of the G Watch's features. The Android Wear-based device will be "always on," as well as water- and dust-resistant. LG also said it would become available in the second quarter of 2014.

We'll be covering the May 27 event live, so stay tuned for more details.