Last Updated on 7 years by Charbel Coorey
The best bowling attack in IPL 2018 vs. one of the worst. Will the result be that simple to predict? The beauty of the tournament has been that the table and recent form rarely dictate the results, which has led to a few teams fighting hard for a playoffs spot.
One of those teams is Royal Challengers Bangalore, who simply must win to keep their playoffs hopes alive. The last two games has seen their batting underwhelm and bowling keep them in the game, which is a sharp contrast to their usual style. Tonight, RCB need to produce the kind of performance we don’t often see from them – consistent.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are on a run of four straight wins, and sit top of the league without a posting a single 180+ score. Efficient, brilliant and the envy of many captains trying to keep teams to a low score, SRH have set the benchmark in executing their plans, and have the chance to just about knock their opponents out of the tournament. Can they keep the likes of Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers very quiet like CSK were able to?
Key to a Sunrisers Hyderabad win
The thought of RCB batting the way they have in recent games is beautiful for SRH fans and players. SRH have been irresistible with the ball in this tournament, headlined by their prowess at all stages of an innings. They are the best bowling team in the powerplay, middle and death overs.
To restrict DD to just 163 after being 95/1 off 10 overs is something special. Rashid Khan has hit superb form after two tough games earlier in the tournament, a sign of his character, and has been consistently backed up by a fantastic attack.
More of the same will go a long way to victory, given how RCB rely plenty on their batting.
|
SRH: well-drilled unit |
Key to a Royal Challengers win
SRH haven’t scored 180 in IPL 2018 so far. This is an opportunity for RCB.
In the last two games, RCB’s bowlers first won them a game v MI and then tried hard to pluck something out of nothing against CSK. Their fielding leaves plenty to be desired (however, check out @IndianMourinho on Twitter – apparently dropping catches doesn’t affect your chances of victory). If RCB can restrict SRH, they have part of the battle won.
The bigger part of the battle is overcoming the SRH attack. The two most able are Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, and RCB desperately need big contributions from them. If RCB bat first and post 180+, pressure will be on SRH to achieve a score they haven’t reached so far in the tournament. If they bowl first, a score of under 170 will be achievable. All to play for.
|
RCB need to improve 12 an over econ. at the death, but these two are the key to a win |
Possible teams
SRH look settled, and will likely stick with the same XI that delivered victory against DD.
Sunrisers Hyderabad XI: 1. Shikhar Dhawan, 2. Alex Hales, 3. Kane Williamson (c), 4. Manish Pandey, 5. Shakib Al Hasan, 6. Yusuf Pathan, 7. Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 8. Rashid Khan, 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10. Sandeep Sharma, 11. Siddarth Kaul
If Manan Vohra is selected, Brendon McCullum might need to take the gloves (not sure if this will happen, so expect Parthiv to play). Also, expect the make up of the bowling attack to stay the same, with the hope of Tim Southee and Yuzvendra Chahal faring better than 9.5 an over v CSK.
Royal Challengers Bangalore XI: 1. Manan Vohra/Parthiv Patel, 2. Brendon McCullum, 3. Virat Kohli (c), 4. AB de Villiers, 5. Mandeep Singh, 6. Colin de Grandhomme, 7. M Ashwin, 8. Tim Southee, 9. Umesh Yadav, 10. Mohammed Siraj, 11. Yuzvendra Chahal
Stats & Facts:
- Head-to-Head: Matches: 10, SRH 6, RCB 4. In Hyderabad, SRH lead RCB 4-1.
- Rashid Khan in the seven SRH wins in IPL 2018: 10 wickets at econ. rate of 5.4
- Yuzvendra Chahal has not taken a wicket in the last three games. Last time this happened was in 2014.
- RCB have dropped eight of their last 21 catch attempts.
- An RCB win will put them just two points behind 4th placed KKR. A win for SRH will put them outright first.
Prediction
So much depends on the battle between the SRH bowling and Virat Kohli/AB de Villiers. RCB are capable of outscoring SRH, but it’s easier said than done. With SRH in great bowling form, as opposed to RCB who are inconsistent in all facets of the game, I expect SRH to win and go outright top of the table.