Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad will take on the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 41st match of the 2024 Indian Premier League season at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad has won five out of the seven matches they have played and are situated in third place in the points table. The batting might of the Sunrisers has taken the cash-rich league by storm with SRH posting three 265+ totals so far in IPL 2024.
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bengaluru has won only one out of the eight matches they played and is currently at the bottom of the points table. As usual, the bowling woes have troubled RCB but their batting has also looked out of sorts barring Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik.
What has happened so far?
Sunrisers Hyderabad, who had only won one of their first three matches, have been hot and cold in the tournament’s initial games. They did, however, mount an incredible turnaround, winning their last four games on the trot.
SRH registered a convincing victory by 67 runs against the Delhi Capitals in their most recent encounter. After crossing the 260-run mark for the third time this season, their bowlers did a pretty good job to ensure a win for their side.
RCB, on the other hand, has had a forgettable season thus far and they are heading into this game after six consecutive losses. The Faf du Plessis-led team will want to give it everything they have in each game that must be won to have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
In their last game against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Royal Challengers found themselves in a comfortable position while chasing a target of 223 runs but they fell short by one run.
Head to Head Record
In 23 IPL matches, SRH and RCB have faced off against one another and the Sunrisers have won twelve out of them, while RCB have won ten games out of them and one game ending without any result.
In their eight clashes in Hyderabad, SRH has definitely benefited from having their home-ground advantage, winning six of the games, while RCB has only been able to win twice.
The Sunrisers’ encounter with RCB earlier this season resulted in a 25-run victory for SRH. In the match played at the M.Chinaswamy Stadium, Travis Head’s century and Heinrich Klaasen’s blistering innings of 67 runs helped SRH post 287 runs on the scoreboard, the second-highest team total in T20 history.
In reply, an 80-run opening partnership between Kohli and skipper du Plessis off 38 balls kept RCB in good stead and Karthik almost took them over the line by scoring 83 runs off 35 balls almost did the job but the veteran fell in the 19th over.
Key Players
Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru): The orange cap holder, Virat Kohli, is once again the shining beacon for the RCB as he has scored 379 runs with an average of 63.17 and an impressive strike rate of 150.40.
Virat has scored 435 runs with an average of 43.50 in the 10 matches he has played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium and would be looking to get some runs against SRH after getting out cheaply in the last match against KKR.
Travis Head scored a 39-ball century the last time he played against RCB
Travis Head (Sunrisers Hyderabad): With 324 runs, Travis Head is ranked third on the list of highest run-getters in IPL 2024 and he will be eager to keep up his tremendous form. The Australian batter was not a shoo-in in the Kangaroos’ squad for the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup but the Mitchell Marsh-led side would be looking forward to deploying the in-form Head from the word ‘go’.
Abhishek Sharma has made the most of opposition bowling attacks focussing on Head by scoring 257 runs at a brilliant strike rate of 215.97 and the opening duo would once again be looking forward to marauding the RCB bowling attack.
Team News from Both Camps
After an underwhelming showing in the Indian Premier League, all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has made the decision to take a “mental and physical” break from the competition.
As of right now, the Sunrisers have no injuries to report. In the next game, they’ll be trying to maintain their winning combination as well.
Predicted XIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins ©, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis ©, Virat Kohli, Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Siraj
Prediction
RCB will be looking to get a much-awaited second win heading into the game, while Pat Cummins and co. will be eager to keep up their winning streak against the visitors.
SRH have the upper hand in the head-to-head clash, and they will be coming in as favorites in the game against RCB, as the SRH held a 62.26% win record at their home ground in Hyderabad. So all things considered, a possible runfest will be expected on Thursday night.