Sunrisers’ win will propel them into the top-4 while RCB’s win will help them grab the top spot.
Sunrisers’ win will propel them into the top-4 while RCB’s win will help them grab the top spot.
Umran Malik’s raw pace and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s consistency will be tested by Dinesh Karthik’s explosive batting and Faf du Plessis’ finesse when Sunrisers Hyderabad take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai on Saturday.
Malik has grabbed everyone’s attention this season with his flamboyant deliveries. His fast pace has troubled even established batsmen like Shreyas Iyer.
Along with senior teammate Bhuvneshwar, the 22-year-old formed a match-winning partnership to beat Punjab Kings by seven wickets in his previous outing.
Sunrisers, trying to break into the top-4, also have yorker specialist T Natarajan and South Africa’s Marco Jensen. Johnson has also been able to tease the batsmen with his angles and variations.
But the experienced du Plessis and Karthik have been the best in the business.
The new RCB captain opened his team’s innings with a scintillating 96-run knock after the top-order collapsed once again against the Lucknow Super Giants.
However, the veteran South African batsman missed out on a much-deserved maiden IPL century in an 18-run victory on Tuesday.
Karthik, on the other hand, is enjoying one of his best seasons in the league. The wicket-keeper batsman has taken center stage with his valor for RCB.
With 32 not out, 14 not out, 44 not out, 7, 34, 66 not out and 13 not out in seven innings, Karthik has been the best finisher of the season.
But apart from these two, RCB’s batsmen will have to finish their job against Sunrisers, who have picked up momentum for their side by winning four games in a row.
All eyes will once again be on Virat Kohli, who will be desperate to come out of the low-scoring race.
Opener Anuj Rawat, who has failed to capitalize on the opportunity given to him, apart from a 66 against Mumbai Indians, S Prabhudesai and Glenn Maxwell will also be hoping to make substantial contributions with the bat.
However, his bowling unit is his strong suit, which was not the case in the last season.
Josh Hazlewood has become an irreplaceable piece in the RCB setting. The Australian pace has managed to dominate the opposition batsmen with his consistent line and length.
RCB have four match-winners in Hazlewood, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj and Wanindu Hasarnaga, while Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed have also played their part well. They will be up against an SRH batting unit where every batsman takes on the responsibility of putting his side on the line.
The promotion of Abhishek Sharma as an opener has done wonders for the youngster, who has been brilliant at the top, providing an aggressive start to SRH.
Captain Kane Williamson is also back among the runs, while Rahul Tripathi has shown that he too can win the match with the bat, hitting a 37-ball 71 against KKR.
And if the top-order fails, South African pair of Aiden Markram and flamboyant Nicholas Pooran are there to finish the match or set big goals.
Sunrisers’ win will propel them into the top-4 while RCB’s win will help them grab the top spot.
Teams (from)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Phillips, R Samarth, Shashank Singh, Washington Sundar, Romario Shepherd, Marco Jansen, J Suchit, Shreyas Gopal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar , Sean Abbott, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Tiwari, Fazlhaq Farooqui, Umran Malik, T Natarajan.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasranga, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudesai, Chama Milind, Anishwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, David Willey, Rajat Patidar, Siddharth Kaul.
The match will start at 7:30 pm.