#Bangalore: the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) fight it out in the final – a south-Indian derby – at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, one thing is certain: the Indian Premier League (IPL) will see a new champion in its ninth edition.RCB will use all its might to remove the tag of being perennial favourites who always end up giving an underwhelming show. Hyderabad, on the other hand, are playing in their first final and have failed to make it to the playoffs in the last two seasons. If they win the title, it will send a strong message that T20s are not just about batsmen.
While SRH have been one of the most consistent teams in IPL 2016, along with the Gujarat Lions, RCB, after a poor start to their campaign, made a stunning comeback to book their place for the summit clash of the annual Twenty20 tournament.
Despite their contrasting journeys, one thing that has been common and the key factor in their success this year is the exceptional performance from their skippers – Virat Kohli and David Warner.
Kohli is going through the best phase of his cricketing career and his average in T20s this year is almost 100. He has scored four tons in the IPL this year and his consistency in the shortest format of the game is just incredible.
With other key players of his team failing to click at the right time, coupled with a comparatively weak bowling attack, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Virat Kohli has single-handedly turned the fortunes of his team to take it to the final.
The RCB skipper is the highest scorer in the tournament with a mind boggling 919 runs in 15 games, which is also a record. He needs just 81 runs to become the first batsman to score 1000 runs in an IPL season. Virat
Kohli has looked in complete control and has scored these runs playing proper cricket shots. Not only with the bat, as a captain too he has been admirable. At one stage his team looked down and out, but he led from the front and showed confidence in his bowlers, even when they were getting thrashed by the opposition batsmen.
Hyderabad, on the other hand, had the best pace attack in the tournament with Ashish Nehra, Mustafizur Rahman, Trent Boult, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Barinder Sran in their squad. They did a brilliant job and have been the most economical side in the tournament this year.
While his bowlers were spot on, Warner didn’t get much support from his batsmen initially; and had it not been for his outstanding run with the bat this year, Hyderabad would have failed to book a place in the playoffs.
Warner’s unbeaten 93 in the second qualifier against Gujarat was his eighth fifty in the tournament this year and it helped his team make a comeback in the match to reach the final. Warner is the second highest run-scorer in the tournament with 779 runs and is only behind Kohli in the list.
SRH swing bowler Bhuvneshwar is the leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps while Mustafizur has been lethal with his perfect yorkers and cutters. He missed the last match due to an injury but Trent Boult was impressive with the ball in his absence.
Hyderabad will certainly miss the experience of Nehra, who had a knee surgery after sustaining an injury, but their bowling attack is way better than that of Bangalore ,and if their batsmen click together, they look like the more potent side to win the trophy.
However, the advantage for RCB is that they have the winning momentum.
Bangalore won their last four league games to make it to the playoffs and their superior net run-rate helped them finish as No. 2, which meant that they played Qualifier 1. Kohli had a rare failure in that match but an outstanding performance by AB de Villiers (79*) helped RCB reach their third IPL final.
Also, RCB have played in the finals of 2009 and 2011 editions, which might help them handle the pressure better. Hyderabad’s best finish was a playoff berth in their debut season in 2013.
Bangalore have a weak bowling attack but their bowlers have shown a lot of improvement towards the end of the tournament. Yuzvendra Chahal, who is the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 20 sticks, has been Kohli’s go-to man in last 2-3 years and has been a consistent performer with a knack of breaking partnerships. Shane Watson, Chris Jordan and Iqbal Abdulla have all been key performers in Bangalore’s turnaround.
RCB undoubtedly have a star-studded batting line-up but Chris Gayle and Shane Watson have been silent with the bat. KL Rahul has played some good knocks and Kohli will expect him and De Villiers to continue their show on the big day.
Hyderabad will be hoping that Mustafizur gets fit for the final, but if he doesn’t, then a lot will depend on Moises Henriques and Boult.
In the batting department, Shikhar Dhawan has been the second highest scorer for the team after Warner but Yuvraj Singh, Henriques, Deepak Hooda and Naman Ojha will have important roles to play in the middle if the top order fails on Sunday.
The last time both teams faced each other, RCB lost to Hyderabad by 15 runs and it will be a good opportunity for them to take revenge for that. It will be a contest between a side with the strongest batting facing a unit with a top-class pace attack and two captains who have been phenomenal with the bat to keep their teams alive in IPL 2016.
While SRH have been one of the most consistent teams in IPL 2016, along with the Gujarat Lions, RCB, after a poor start to their campaign, made a stunning comeback to book their place for the summit clash of the annual Twenty20 tournament.
Despite their contrasting journeys, one thing that has been common and the key factor in their success this year is the exceptional performance from their skippers – Virat Kohli and David Warner.
Kohli is going through the best phase of his cricketing career and his average in T20s this year is almost 100. He has scored four tons in the IPL this year and his consistency in the shortest format of the game is just incredible.
With other key players of his team failing to click at the right time, coupled with a comparatively weak bowling attack, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Virat Kohli has single-handedly turned the fortunes of his team to take it to the final.
The RCB skipper is the highest scorer in the tournament with a mind boggling 919 runs in 15 games, which is also a record. He needs just 81 runs to become the first batsman to score 1000 runs in an IPL season. Virat
Kohli has looked in complete control and has scored these runs playing proper cricket shots. Not only with the bat, as a captain too he has been admirable. At one stage his team looked down and out, but he led from the front and showed confidence in his bowlers, even when they were getting thrashed by the opposition batsmen.
Hyderabad, on the other hand, had the best pace attack in the tournament with Ashish Nehra, Mustafizur Rahman, Trent Boult, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Barinder Sran in their squad. They did a brilliant job and have been the most economical side in the tournament this year.
While his bowlers were spot on, Warner didn’t get much support from his batsmen initially; and had it not been for his outstanding run with the bat this year, Hyderabad would have failed to book a place in the playoffs.
Warner’s unbeaten 93 in the second qualifier against Gujarat was his eighth fifty in the tournament this year and it helped his team make a comeback in the match to reach the final. Warner is the second highest run-scorer in the tournament with 779 runs and is only behind Kohli in the list.
SRH swing bowler Bhuvneshwar is the leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps while Mustafizur has been lethal with his perfect yorkers and cutters. He missed the last match due to an injury but Trent Boult was impressive with the ball in his absence.
Hyderabad will certainly miss the experience of Nehra, who had a knee surgery after sustaining an injury, but their bowling attack is way better than that of Bangalore ,and if their batsmen click together, they look like the more potent side to win the trophy.
However, the advantage for RCB is that they have the winning momentum.
Bangalore won their last four league games to make it to the playoffs and their superior net run-rate helped them finish as No. 2, which meant that they played Qualifier 1. Kohli had a rare failure in that match but an outstanding performance by AB de Villiers (79*) helped RCB reach their third IPL final.
Also, RCB have played in the finals of 2009 and 2011 editions, which might help them handle the pressure better. Hyderabad’s best finish was a playoff berth in their debut season in 2013.
Bangalore have a weak bowling attack but their bowlers have shown a lot of improvement towards the end of the tournament. Yuzvendra Chahal, who is the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 20 sticks, has been Kohli’s go-to man in last 2-3 years and has been a consistent performer with a knack of breaking partnerships. Shane Watson, Chris Jordan and Iqbal Abdulla have all been key performers in Bangalore’s turnaround.
RCB undoubtedly have a star-studded batting line-up but Chris Gayle and Shane Watson have been silent with the bat. KL Rahul has played some good knocks and Kohli will expect him and De Villiers to continue their show on the big day.
Hyderabad will be hoping that Mustafizur gets fit for the final, but if he doesn’t, then a lot will depend on Moises Henriques and Boult.
In the batting department, Shikhar Dhawan has been the second highest scorer for the team after Warner but Yuvraj Singh, Henriques, Deepak Hooda and Naman Ojha will have important roles to play in the middle if the top order fails on Sunday.
The last time both teams faced each other, RCB lost to Hyderabad by 15 runs and it will be a good opportunity for them to take revenge for that. It will be a contest between a side with the strongest batting facing a unit with a top-class pace attack and two captains who have been phenomenal with the bat to keep their teams alive in IPL 2016.
Bureau Report
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