SRH vs RCB, IPL 2021 Live Score: Kohli, de Villiers in focus as Bangalore meets Warner's Sunrisers; Toss at 7 PM

Hello and welcome to the Live Blog of match 6 of IPL 2021 played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai.

[SRH vs RCB, IPL 2021, MATCH 6 LIVE SCORECARD]

Have your say ahead of the all-important Toss!

PITCH REPORT: Danny Morrison suggests that conditions are "beautiful" for the evening. With the lack of swing evident over the last four matches at Chepauk, the focus swiftly shifts to the spinners. Murali Kartik adds on that the pitch is the driest of the four tracks that were on show.The track for tonight was the one that was used for India's second Test against England. And this evidently means, the captain who wins the Toss would want to bat first on this pitch.

6:20PM: Skipper Virat Kohli is seen having a light throw-down session near the boundary cushions. He will be keen to see off the Rashid Khan threat on a tricky surface at Chepauk.

The deciding factor for RCB tonight against a lethal SRH bowling line-up.

06:05PM: Right, we move our focus up-close to Chepauk as the sides step onto the field for their routine warm-ups. It has been a day of respite amidst a hot summer in Chennai, as brisk rains poured over the city today.

An hour away from the Toss.... RCB skipper Virat Kohli would be aiming for a personal rejig against the Sunrisers.

His last six scores against SRH read: 6, 7, 14, 16, 3 and 12 - a total of 58 runs from six innings.

Numbers Game

• Virat Kohli has struggled against two teams since 2018 - Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. His average of 13.9 and SR of 114 against SRH is the least among all teams.
   
• With a win, David Warner will join Adam Gilchrist with 35 wins as an IPL captain - the most for an overseas skipper.
   
• The Sunrisers is yet to win an IPL match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
   
• Virat Kohli needs 89 more runs to become the first player to register 6000 runs in IPL.
   
• Sunrisers pacer Sandeep Sharma has dismissed Virat Kohli seven times in the IPL - the most by an bowler against the RCB batsman. Sandeep Sharma has taken 23 IPL wickets against RCB and needs 1 more wicket to become the leading wicket-taker against it.
   
• Milestone matches - Yuzvendra Chahal will feature in his 100th match for RCB while Harshal Patel will make his 50th IPL appearance.

Top performers in the fixture

Predicted XIs

With the Sunrisers failing to strike balance with its overseas core, Warner and the management will have a tough task in making the most of their available structure. The Indian pace trio of Bhuvneshwar, Sandeep and Natarajan went off radar in the first match and that could lead SRH in bringing in Jason Holder into the mix. Holder's exclusion would be at the expense of Mohammed Nabi while Sandeep Sharma may be replaced by a spinner, preferably Shahbaz Nadeem.

RCB might welcome opener Devdutt Padikkal back into the set-up after having missed out on the first match right after his recovery from COVID-19. All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed might make way for the teenager while the hard-hitting Rajat Patidar could get a longer run in the top-order.

- Match Preview -

After a positive start to its 14th edition with a clinical win over the defending champion Mumbai Indians on Friday, Virat Kohli and Co. have ensured that the initiation was with minimal blips this time around.

With a nearly settled XI taking the field to break down Mumbai in the season opener, skipper Kohli would certainly be a relieved man as his side aims to take the early lead in the tournament.

However, RCB will have a familiar foe to wade through tonight. The Sunrisers who went down to Kolkata on Sunday, has had the wood over Kohli's men over the last couple of seasons - the last meeting ending in Sunrisers' win in the IPL 2020 eliminator.

IPL 2021 preview: SRH eyes first win against star-studded RCB  

The Sunrisers, however, has failed to strive the balance between its overseas players and the middle-order continues to be a chink in its armour. However, Hyderabad would be more than keen to make a swift turnaround with its bowlers relishing the edge over RCB's batsmen in recent head-to-head fixtures.

The match would well turn out to be a clash between the RCB top-order and the SRH's incisive bowling lineup. 

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