Rashid Khan and Wriddhiman Saha
With momentum on their side, a confident Sunrisers Hyderabad would look for another complete performance to continue their forward march in the IPL when they face a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Pushed to the wall after a slow start to the tournament, SRH produced a lion-hearted effort in the second leg and peaked at the right time to qualify for the play-offs by finishing third in the league standings, just ahead of RCB.
It has been contrasting results for the two teams at the business end of the tournament. While RCB suffered four consecutive defeats to finish the league stage at the fourth spot, SRH registered a hat-trick of wins to edge past Virat Kohli's men in the standings. SRH made a remarkable turnaround in their final three games -- defeating Delhi Capitals, RCB and table-toppers Mumbai Indians to book their last-fourth berth.
Head-to-head tie: Sunrisers Hyderabad lead the H2H rivalry 9-7 although either side has shared equal wins and losses in their last six matches. In this season, RCB won the first game, winning by five wickets, but lost the second by an equal margin.
At the venue: RCB have a 2-3 record on Abu Dhabi which includes two wins and two defeats in IPL 2020. SRH have managed only one win at this venue in four IPL matches.
Playoffs record: Since the present system of playoffs was introduced in 2011, RCB have reached the playoffs three times and have a 3-4 record including a defeat to SRH in 2016 final. David Warner's Orange Army, who have reached the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year, also hold the same record in this stage of IPL.
Crucial stats:
- Sandeep Sharma has dismissed Virat Kohli seven times in IPL career, the most he has been dismissed by any bowler in T20 cricket and the joint-most for a batsman-bowler combination.
- Chris Morris managed to solve RCB's death-over issues since his inclusion into the playing XI, but has faded away towards the end, conceding 55 runs for just two wickets in his last four games.
- RCB's middle-over issue have been their biggest hindrance so far, with the team scoring 7.47 runs per over between 7 and 15. \
- Virat Kohli is three sixes away from amassing 300 T20 maximums.
(with PTI inputs)
