SRH take on RCB on Monday. (Source: BCCI)
Table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore in match 39 of the Indian Premier League at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Monday. Both the teams have had a contrasting run in the tournament so far. While SRH reclaimed their top spot on the points table with a convincing win against Delhi Daredevils, RCB suffered a disappointing loss against Chennai Super Kings in Pune and slipped further down the table. With momentum on their side and match being played on their home turf, SRH will be the favourites to win this match. Throughout IPL 11 the orange army have consistently defended totals put on the board and in the last match chased down a target of 165. Hence, for Virat Kohli and his men, it will be an uphill task to stop SRH’s rampaging run.
For RCB, the bowling was one of the biggest concerns. However, in the last match against CSK, the famed batting lineup comprising of Kohli, ABD and Brendon Mc Cullum fell one after the another revealing the chink in Bangalore’s armour. It is imperative that one of the above three bats long enough so that RCB can post a challenging total. Another aspect which must be addressed immediately is the consistent lapses in fielding. The drop of Dwayne Bravo and MS Dhoni against CSK cost RCB the match and thus fielders need to raise the bat before it is too late. With their IPL 2018 campaign handing by a thread, RCB needs to deliver the goods in each of the matches they play from hereon.
The pitch is expected to be on the slower side, and slower bowlers are expected to play a vital role. The seamer will also need to bank on their variations to succeed. Any total above 160 can prove to be match-winning and the team which wins the toss will look to bat first to the pressure of runs on the board and then defend it.
Virat Kohli needs to ensure that RCB do not make silly errors on the field. (Source: IPL)
SQUADS-
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C ), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddharth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami, Ricky Bhui, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sachin Baby, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Tanmay Agarwal, Alex Hales, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi and Chris Jordan.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Captain), Quinton de Kock, Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Tim Southee.