Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) pulled off a stunning victory in their final game against the Mumbai Indians that allowed them to eliminate the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and qualify for the playoffs. SRH will now take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL Eliminator game on Nov 7. The loser will exit the IPL while the winner will play in Qualifier 2 and face the winner of Qualifier 1.
Sunrisers Slight Betting Favorites
Bookmakers had SRH as one of the top three teams that were expected to win the IPL 2020 Championship. However, they played poorly and a lot of cricket bettors were kicking themselves from putting money on SRH. They should not have made the playoffs but some poor cricket for KKR and a brilliant performance by SRH skipper David Warner in their last game saw SRH defy the odds and keep their hopes alive.
SRH are the slight betting favorites against RCB with odds of 4/5 while RCB have odds of 1/1. This is bound to be a close game as both sides have their pros and cons that make things rather even. We take a look at the pros and cons of each team below and help make it easier for you to decide which team to bet on.
Batting Department: RCB definitely look the stronger side in the batting department with the likes of Virat Kohli, AB Devilliers, Devdutt Padikkal and all-rounders Chris Morris and S Dube. However, RCB have made a habit of failing in crunch situations which is why a lot of IPL fans did not give RCB any chance of making it to the playoffs.
The Sunrisers have a weaker batting line-up but unlike RCB, SRH have shown that they rise to the challenge when the pressure is on. This is mainly due to the leadership of David Warner and how he goes about leading from the front. Warner will have to play a big role in the playoffs if SRH is going to get to the IPL finals. He will need support from Kane Williamson and Indian stars W Saha and M Pandey.
Bowling Department: SRH don’t have a great bowling line-up and will rely heavily on their spinners Rashid Khan and S Nadeem. RCB’s best chance of putting pressure is to go after the fast bowlers as Sandeep Sharma and Jason Holder are not the best T20 bowlers going around. A lot would depend on what kind of pitch we have for the Eliminator and which team gets to bat first.
RCB have a number of T20 specialists in their bowling line-up. Chris Morris has shown that he can bowl at the top and at the death when it matters. W Sundar is known to be miserly early on in the innings and Y Chahal will look to keep things quiet in the middle overs.
RCB Key To Victory: RCB need to take the pressure off V Kohli and let him play freely. This means the likes of AB Devilliers and Padikkal need to get some runs in the Eliminator. In the bowling department, they need to get rid of the dangerous David Warner early or he could take the game away from them very quickly.
SRH Key To Victory: The bowlers need to keep RCB quiet especially in the first 6 overs and the final 5 overs as this is where RCB can be devastating when they are on song. In the batting department, the middle order needs to be prepared to deliver should Warner fail at the top. This would mean Kane Williamson controlling the innings and the rest batting around him.
Verdict: We think RCB has the experience to beat SRH.
