Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore will be eliminated from Indian Premier League 2018 if they lose to Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
Their chances of making the playoffs still hanging by a thread, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in another must-win Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter, in Bengaluru on Thursday.
The consecutive victories over Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab have revived RCB's hopes, while SRH has been on a roll, having won nine matches out of 12. RCB are still languishing at the second last position on the table, while SRH are on top of the table with 18 points.
Virat Kohli's RCB has endured a tough season, having lost seven of its 12 matches so far but the recent turnaround has rekindled hopes of a possible shot at the playoffs berth provided some other results go the team's way. The hosts are overtly dependant on Kohli and South African swashbuckler A B De Villiers.
The two have combined to score nearly half of RCB's total runs this season but the side needs bigger contributions from the likes of Moeen Ali and Corey Anderson. In peerless form, Kohli has been a standout performer with 514 runs from 12 games. De Villiers (358 runs) is next to him, although he has played two games less than the Indian. On the bowling front pacer Umesh Yadav has delivered for the team, taking 17 wickets so far.
SRH, on the other hand, depend quite a lot on opener Shikhar Dhawan (369 runs) and skipper Kane Williamson (544 runs) for inspiration. Williamson has been an astute leader, who would look to consolidate the team's top spot and ensure a top-two finish at the end of the league stage.
Apart from Dhawan and Williamson, Yusuf Pathan (186), Manish Pandey (189) and Shakib-Al-Hasan (166) have also chipped in at crunch situations for SRH. But what has been truly outstanding for SRH is their diverse bowling attack. The bowlers, led by India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (8), have been terrific.
Bhuvneshwar has been backed up superbly by Siddharth Kaul (13 wickets), Sandeep Sharma (8), leg-spinner Rashid Khan (13) and Shakib-Al-Hasan (12). Given their consistent run, SRH would be expected to pull it off on Thursday but RCB, having rediscovered some form, might just spring a surprise.
RCB v/s SRH head-to-head
This one is quite a one-sided affair. SRH hold a 7-4 record against RCB. The worrying thing for Kohli, however, is that the Sunrisers have won the last four head-to-head encounters, including the final of IPL 2016.
RCB v/s SRH expected Playing XI
RCB Probable XI: Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.
SRH Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Shreevats Goswami, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma.
RCB v/s SRH prediction
It's a clash between a side that's been consistently good and a side that's been consistently unpredictable. SRH have been at the top of the points table for the better part of IPL 2018, while RCB have been languishing somewhere near the bottom. Add to that, the Sunrisers even have a healthy lead in the head-to-head count. But RCB are a team with momentum at the moment, and will step on to the field in a do-or-die situation on Thursday. That, coupled with their skipper's insatiable desire for success, means we're putting our money on the hosts to come through.
(Inputs from PTI)
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 "Virat Kohli (L) and Kane Williamson in action during IPL 2018")
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