RCB vs SRH- Struggling Bangalore face Hyderabad challenge today In today's IPL match, Kane Williamson's Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in must-win game for Virat Kohl's RCB. Catch IPL live updates
In the 39th match of Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) Kane Williamson’s Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will take on Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. A consistent Sunrisers Hyderabad unit would look to consolidate its position at the top of the Vivo IPL points table, while Royal Challengers Bangalore will fight for survival as the two teams clash in today’s IPL match. RCB have been struggling for survival, needing to win every game and also hoping that other results go in their favour, to remain in contention for the playoffs. They are placed sixth on the Vivo IPL points table with just three wins from their nine games. In today’s match, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers will have to weave some magic with their willows to make it tough for SRH, whose bowlers have proved to be a headache for all teams. The return of SRH fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has only strengthened their attack further.RCB's big guns, on the other hand, have failed to fire so far.
However, now is the time to deliver, since one more defeat would spell their ouster from the tournament. Parthiv Patel (who scored 53 runs against Chennai) and Brendon McCullum need to support their side and the likes of Mandeep Singh and Colin de Grandhomme have to step up. Death bowling has been a cause for RCB's concern , but they cannot afford to let it remain unchecked when it comes playing against the Sunrisers. Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have put up good performances but Hyderabad-lad Mohammad Siraj and Washington Sundar also need to come up with a solid show in IPL today’s match. As for Sunrises Hyderabad's bowling attack, pacers Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma, and spin all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan have been very effective. They have successfully prevented rivals from chasing down low totals on numerous occasions.Courtesy their splendid bowling attack, SRH emerged as good defenders initially, but by defeating Delhi Daredevils with a seven-wicket margin, they proved that they could pull off tight chases as well. The hosts have already taken long strides towards a play-offs spot but there still are issues that must be bothering them ahead of the business end of the tournament. Opener Shikhar Dhawan's low strike rate must be one concern for them, along with a shaky middle order. English batsman Alex Hales, who opened the innings along with Dhawan against Delhi Daredevils, has been brilliant. SRH Captain Kane Williamson is one of the highest run getters in IPL 2018 and will look to hold the middle order the way he has done on most of the occasions.SRH playing 11 probables for today’s match: Kane Williamson, Alex Hales, Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Bhuvneswar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Wriddhiman Saha RCB playing XI probables for today’s match: Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel, Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Colin de Grandhomme, Yuzuvendra Chahal, Murugan Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Mohammed Siraj.Royal Challengers Bangalore players who could prove handy in IPL today’s match (RCB vs SRH): The opening stand has been the major worry for RCB in IPL 2018. In the match against Parthiv Patel played an important knock off 53 but his other opening partner Brendon McCullum failed to deliver. As Quinton de Kock might not available for IPL today’s match the onus will be on Brendon McCullum to give Royal Challengers Bangalore a stormy start. Virat Kohli who was in a sublime touch in IPL 2018 will look to continue his form. While AB de Villiers (ABD) who failed to made any impression in last match against CSK will be itching to hit the ball out of the park again. In the bowling department, Umesh and Chahal bowled superbly but missed support from the other end while Tim Southee and Mohammad Siraj were inconsistent. The major worry for them is the death bowling as their bowlers missed line and length on most of the occasions and got hammered.Sunrisers Hyderabad players who could prove handy in IPL today’s match (RCB vs SRH): The inclusion of Alex Hales has infused much needed aggression at the top of the SRH batting order that they are lacking because of Wriddiman Saha lacklustre performance.
After scoring runs in first few games Dhawan failed and its time when SRH need a score from Shikhar Dhawan too, while Kane Williamson has almost unnoticedly gone about accumulating his 354 runs and looked solid like Captain cool MS Dhoni. The bowling department of Sunrisers Hyderabad is best in the IPL 2018. The SRH pacer have took 34 wickets with an economy of 6.98 in the 9 matches they played. Even in the absence of Bhuvneswar Kumar and Ben Stanlake they defended a small total of 132 runs against Mumbai Indians which shows the kind of bench strength they have in IPL 2018. What SRH captain said on the absence of David Warner from Sunrisers Hyderabad: Named captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad after the banned David Warner was ruled out of the IPL 2018, Kane Williamson said it's "impossible to be a replacement" for the explosive Australian opener in the T20 franchise's setup. "I don't think it's a matter of replacing David Warner. I think that's probably an impossible thing to do. He is one of the best T20 batters In the world and for this franchise in the last few years," Williamson said.What Australian veteran Mark Waugh said about RCB death bowling: Former Australian batsman Mark Waugh has attributed the poor performance of the Virat-Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the ongoing edition of the IPL to their death bowling. "Death bowling is a major area of concern for RCB currently as their bowlers are too expensive towards the end," Waugh, a Star Sports Select Dugout expert, was quoted as saying in a media release. "They have had chances to win games but they just can"t find the right set of combination in the last couple of overs which is affecting the team's results," added Waugh, who played 128 Tests for Australia and scored 8,029 runs. What Virat Kohli said after RCB lost the game against CSK: Kohli, on his part, referred to the dropped catches of Dwayne Bravo by Parthiv Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal. Chennai were in trouble at that stage but chances went abegging. "It was a close game. Dropped catches don't help," Kohli said. "It wasn't the ideal day for us: losing so many wickets. But that's how this game goes. We gave a really good effort in the second half. The wicket played slow throughout which was surprising. Had we taken or chances, we could have made it harder for themselves," the RCB skipper lamented.Mallya effect: Rs 1 billion diverted from IPL team RCB's holding company: Even as United Spirits Ltd (USL) investigated a massive financial fraud at the company at the time businessman Vijay Mallya was at the helm of its affairs, the alleged financial irregularities spread to the company’s Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as well. Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd (RCSPL), the holding company of RCB, said in its latest financial statement filed before India’s regulators that it had detected financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 1.15 billion (Rs 115 crore).
Read our full coverage on IPL 2018