The Eliminator will see the Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on the Sun Risers Hyderabad in Abu Dhabi. It will be a knockout meaning the loser of the match will leave the competition. Virat Kohli has not been in the best of touch this season apart from that odd innings vs CSK. On the other hand, David Warner has found his touch at the correct time. In the league stage, both the teams have won a game each.
RCB just about qualified to the playoffs despite losing 4 consecutive games and made it through only due to their good work in the first half of the season. In the last league game vs DC, their batsman once again failed to get going in the middle overs and was restricted to 152. It was never enough as the DC chased it down comfortably but the bowlers took the game deep which resulted in them going into the playoffs. Padikkal and Kohli are among runs in this IPL but have come at a slow pace. ABD is the only one who is doing big hitting for them.
SRH has turned things upside down for themselves winning all 3 of their last 3 league games. They are a side that is high on momentum and head into this game as favorites to come out on top. Sandeep Sharma has been a revelation for SRH in this IPL taking crucial wickets in the powerplays and Rashid Khan as always is not giving away many. The SRH openers Warner and Saha have been in fine touch and have dismantled all the bowling attacks that have come in their way.
Key Players
Batsman – David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha, Virat Kohli, and Devdutt Padikkal.
Despite having scored over 400 runs, Virat Kohli is not at his usual best and will need to step up. Devdutt Padikkal is one of the finds of the tournament and is the highest run-scorer of RCB this season. The main problem for the RCB has been their middle-overs with the bat as they have not been to get momentum to take it to the end overs. The ever consistent David Warner has been among runs this time as well and SRH will be wanting him to score in this consequential game again. Saha has just 4 games but already created a major impact for SRH and his experience will be valuable for them in this game.
All Rounder- Shabaz Ahmed, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, and Rashid Khan.
Shabaz Ahmed may come in handy with the ball if the pitch is slow. After a giving good account of himself last game, he will be pretty confident going into this game. Sundar has been effective in the powerplays and has been outstanding throughout this IPL. Rashid Khan is having a sensational tournament with the ball in hand having taken 20 wickets at an ER of 5.28. In addition to his bowling, he is a good batman as well. Jason holder has been a useful addition to the SRH set up and his experience will come in handy for them. He has already picked 10 wickets from just 5 games. He can be lethal with the bat as well.
Bowlers – Yuzuvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, and T Natarajan.
Saini has been off-color for some games now and got injured sometime back. If he is back this game, he will the bowler to watch out for. Chahal has been one of the standout spinners in this IPL with 20 scalps which is the highest for any spinner this year. He can be a real difference for the side of this game. He has already was the difference between the sides when they first met. Sandeep Sharma is one of the underrated performers for SRH this season with 13 wickets from 11 games. He has given them breakthroughs in the powerplays fairly regularly and they will hope he does this again this game. T Natarajan too has been impressive so far and his yorkers could be a major factor in the death overs.
Battles to look forward
- Yuzuvendra Chahal vs David Warner
- Sandeep Sharma vs Virat Kohli
- Rashid Khan vs Ab De Villiers
The main battle to look is between Sandeep and Kohli. The former has taken the wicket of this champion batsman the most number of times. Ab De Villiers struggles a little bit against leg spinners and Rashid will be the go-to man for SRH. Chahal has been the standout RCB bowler and will be the player who will have remove the dangerous Warner who is in great form.
Head to Head between SRH and RCB
- Matches Played: 17
- RCB Won: 7
- SRH won: 9
Significant Approaching Milestones.
21- Wriddhiman Saha needs 21 more runs to score 2000 IPL runs.
5- David Warner requires 5 more maximums to cross 200 IPL 6’s.
Match conditions
Venue: Sheikh Zayed cricket stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Date & Timings: November 6, 2020, at 7.30 PM IST.
Weather: Clear with the temperature around 29 C.
Pitch: Likely to be a slow surface with possible due later on.
