The Eliminator of IPL 2020 will see Royal Challengers Bangalore lock horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The winner of this clash will play Delhi Capitals on Sunday to set up a summit clash with defending champions Mumbai Indians on November 10.
Hyderabad will be oozing with confidence after beating all the other teams, who made it to the playoffs in a row to make their way. In their last league game, David Warner & Co defeated the first finalist Mumbai Indians to progress through.
Wriddhiman Saha, an inspired selection at the top, has been a revelation and has freed Warner from his shackles. Shahbaz Nadeem has developed a carrom ball, Sandeep Sharma has added miles to his reputation as a slayer of PowerPlays and Rashid Khan has been at his best which gives Sunrisers Hyderabad a fair advantage.
Royal Challengers Bangalore, on the other hand, have looked a lot better as a team in IPL 2020. However, the injury of Chris Morris, who completely changed the dynamics of the side, will keep Bangalore worried. Indian fast bowler Navdeep Saini, who missed the last game due to injury, is likely to return to the playing XI.
On the batting front, Devdutt Padikkal has been a revelation scoring the bulk of the runs for his side. However, Virat Kohli low strike rate can pose a problem for the 2016 finalists as former India cricketer Virender Sehwag pointed out.
It will be an exciting encounter between both the side with a lot at stake.
IPL 2020: Eliminator – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad from 7:30 PM IST at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Pitch Condition
The toss at Abu Dhabi will be significant once more with the last five fixtures all having won by the chasing team. The dew is likely to play a factor in the second half as explained by the batting great Sachin Tendulkar.
Predicted Playing XI
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Joshua Philippe, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris/Isuru Udana, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini/Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Priyam Garg/Abhishek Sharma, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, T. Natarajan
Match Prediction – Who will win the match?
Going into this game, Sunrisers Hyderabad have an advantage over Royal Challengers Bangalore in head-to-head encounters. They have won nine games in comparison to Bangalore’s seven. On top of that, David Warner & Co emerged winners when these two teams faced each other in the last league game.
It is almost impossible to separate a winner but simply going by the recent form, Hyderabad hold a slight advantage to set up a clash with Delhi Capitals in the second Qualifier.