Decoding Sunrisers Hyderabad's bowling attack

Chennai Super Kings entered the final of IPL after they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by a narrow margin of two wickets. That would not have been possible without Faf du Plessis's superb knock.

All the other CSK batsmen fell like dominos without adding too much to the scoreboard. Even the mighty MS Dhoni struggled against Rashid Khan and the superlative Hyderabad bowling unit.

Sunrisers would have had a different result if Williamson had chosen Sandeep Sharma over Carlos Braithwaite to bowl the 18th over. The Hyderabad team have defended small targets thrice this season and have been among the best bowling teams this season. How do they do it? I decode their impressive bowling line-up:

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#1 The defense of Bhuvi

Bhuvi for SRH

Williamson has mostly trusted the swing of Bhuvi when it comes to bowling the new ball. Bhuvneshwar has been defensive with the ball as he has been pitching the ball in the right areas. The credit must go to coach Tom Moody and his team for making the most of Bhuvi's discipline by handing him the ball in the death overs.

Even though he has had troubles with an injury this season, he has managed to keep a low economy rate and is majorly responsible for giving a good start and finish to the Sunrisers' bowling attack. An example of Bhuvi's brilliant defence would be the game against RCB where despite the troubles from the Injury, he bowled beautifully in the death.

The Indian bowler played a major role in successfully defending the small total of 146 by bagging the wicket of Colin de Grandhomme. With an economy rate of just 7.83 this season, Bhuvi has established himself as one of the best swing bowlers in the IPL this season.

#2 Kaul and Sharma - the able lieutenants

Siddharth Kaul

Assisting Bhuvneshwar Kumar are two in-form Indian pacers who have hardly put a step wrong this entire season. Both Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma have been exceptional with the ball.

Unlike Bhuvi, both these bowlers have been given the full license to experiment. Their slower balls and variations have provided the break through for SRH quite often this season. For example, Siddharth Kaul's wicket-taking delivery of Suresh Raina was the exact opposite of the wide full toss hit for four a ball before. It is no surprise that Kaul has been the leading wicket taker for SRH this season with 19 wickets from 15 games.

Sandeep Sharma on the other hand has also been very experimental with his pace. Moreover, Sandeep also has a good economy rate of just 7.02 this season. His caught and bowled of Ravindra Jadeja in the last match has been a great example of his exemplary variation.

Both these bowlers have garnered a total of 30 wickets between them.

#3 Rashid Khan's mystery deliveries

Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan is Williamson's trump card. In a season mostly dominated by pace bowlers, the youngster has stood out as the lone spinner in the Purple Cap rankings. His strength has been his ability to not let the batsmen open their arms.

He bowls a little fast for a spinner with almost perfect length, making it almost impossible for batsmen to pick him. His fabulous googly to take the wicket of Dhoni is an example of Afghan spinner's capabilities.

He has a strike rate of just 20.0 making him one of the best spinners in the IPL this season. This is his second IPL season and yet it is safe to term him as a mystery spinner for the SRH.

#4 The depth of the all-rounders

Shakib al Hasan

Both Carlos Brathwaite and Shakib al Hasan have been good bowling options. Although they are the weaker bowlers in the attack, they have played their part. Shakib has outdone himself by picking wickets which were not expected of him.

He is usually expected to ball straight and sneak in a couple of economical overs but his wicket-taking ability has won him the captain's trust.

It was amazing to see him bowl that spell against RR in their season opener, taking the important wickets of Samson and Tripathi. But on bad days, he has also been very expensive.

Robin Uthappa saw through Shakib's variations and picked him nicely in that very important chase for the KKR.

Brathwaite is a good changeup option for the orange army. His pace and height is his key asset, if Williamson decides to bowl short to a batsman.

Brathwaite though is an easy target for the batting team as he often bowls too short and turns out to be expensive.

His 18th over against the CSK was nothing short of a disaster as it completely shifted the momentum towards the men in yellow. His finishing capabilities is what keeps him in the team.

No matter what is the case, Sunrisers look like a good bowling unit and look well equipped to lift the cup. What remains to see is if their weak middle order can match up to the performance of their strong bowling unit.