A repeat of the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) final (SRH vs RCB), wherein the Sunrisers Hyderabad went on to clinch their maiden IPL trophy over Royal Challengers Bangalore, will mark the third match of this 2020 season. These two Southern neighbours will hope to start off the tournament well and get some crucial early points on the board.
The two teams have met 14 times in the past and SRH have the edge over their southern compatriots, winning seven times against them. They have got the better of RCB three times out of the last five matches these two sides have played against each other.
KEY BATTLES
David Warner vs Aaron Finch
David Warner has been the most consistent batsman the IPL has seen over the past five years and will once again captain the Hyderabad team. He has had an average tour of England leading up to the IPL but he is always a different beast when it comes to this T20 League. He’ll hold the key for his team in SRH vs RCB. Warner has averaged more than 50 in the previous few editions and will like to begin the 2020 edition with a bang.
RCB were desperate to get another world-class batsman along with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to share the burden of run-scoring. Aaron Finch has led the Australian team to the World No. 1 status and will be hoping to have a strong IPL. He scores big wherever he gets going but his IPL stats aren’t reflective of his real capabilities. Will the real Aaron Finch stand up in this match? We think so.
PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Sandeep Sharma
Sandeep Sharma is five wickets away from the 100 IPL wickets tally. Out of his 95 wickets, 22.1 percent of his wickets have come against RCB. He has always been the Achilles Heel for RCB and has the best strike rate amongst the bowlers against Bangalore.
With the new ball moving around as it has done in the first two matches, expect Sandeep Sharma to be amongst the wickets. He’ll take the new ball and if he bowls the first over then we can expect him to get the better of one of the openers in the very first over.
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has said that he hasn’t felt as comfortable leading into the IPL as this season due to the squad he has at his disposal. If RCB are going to have a good campaign, it’s imperative that their captain needs to fire. Virat hasn’t fared well in the opening matches scoring 253 runs in 11 innings. His record against Sunrisers is positive for the RCB fans out there. He just needs 20 more runs to become the leading run-getter against SRH and we can expect him to do well against them in their opener.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
SRH: David Warner (C), Jonny Bairstow (WK), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddhart Kaul
RCB: Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Navdeep Saini
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