Sharjah Cricket Stadium will host the 52nd Match of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) square off against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday.
RCB have 7 wins to their name from 12 matches and occupy a place in the top half of the points table. On the other hand, SRH, are on the sixth spot in the standings, having registered 5 wins from 12 games.
RCB, though, are coming into this game following a defeat against Mumbai Indians (MI). Meanwhile, this will be SRH's first match following their convincing 88-run win against Delhi Capitals (DC).
Two losses in a row have prevented RCB from sealing their spot in the playoffs. A third in this match and things could become quite tricky indeed.
RCB will be wary of taking on SRH, their nemesis so often in the past. A few team changes that RCB made in the previous match that may have to be undone. Josh Phillippe played well at the top but also had a lot of luck. Will RVB want to continue with him over Aaron Finch at a venue where getting a good start is important?
Similarly, Dale Steyn was expensive once more in the match against the Mumbai Indians. Isuru Udana may be a much better option on the Sharjah wicket.
RCB also has to find a way to be more assertive in the middle overs. Devdutt Padikkal has started playing more aggressively and with that will come more failures. Virat Kohli and ABD need to be at their best going into the postseason so that they do not let any matches slip.
Their battle against Rashid Khan is going to be one that everyone is going to watch very closely.
RCB's bowling has suffered in the absence of Navdeep Saini and it looks like he will continue to miss out because of a minor injury. Mohammad Siraj has done well in recent matches but he can be very expensive.
Virat Kohli will be fervently hoping that RCB does not have one of its horror bowling nights that its fans know all too well about.
David Warner turned back the clock and brought out the ultra-aggressive version against DC. We sincerely hope to see that same intent against RCB because that is the only way SH is going to get over the line. The team has a lot of injury concerns going into this game.
Wriddhiman Saha and Vijay Shankar were both off the field during the SRH fielding stint in the previous match and are likely to miss out. This means we could see Shrrevats Goswamy and Abhishek Sharma make a comeback into the team.
Needless to say, this weakens SRH significantly. It also puts immense pressure on Kane Williamson, David Warner, and Manish Pandey. Now that Jonny Bairstow is not a part of the playing eleven, these three have to do the bulk of the run-scoring.
Also, the batting order may require a re-shuffle. Sandeep Sharma has been bowling well in recent matches. He also has a good record against Virat Kohli and ABD. The real threat, though is going to come from Rashid Khan who is in tremendous form.
If SRH can pick up some early wickets then Rashid Khan and even T Natarajan have shown that they are going to be very hard to score off in the middle. Jason Holder adds depth to the bowling but the loss of Vijay Shankar is going to upset the balance a little bit.
SRH comes into this match with no option but to go for a win. That clarity of mind can free up players to do their best as we saw in the match against DC.
Weather Forecast
During the match the temperature is expected to be around 26-30 degrees during the match. The forecast shows no chance of rain. The humidity will be around
40-45 per cent and the wind speed around 19 kmph.
Pitch Report
The pitch at Sharjah has become slower and been more difficult to score. The middle overs with the spinners are going to be tough for the batsmen to score
in. The chasing team has won the past five matches on this ground, with dew playing a key role. The ball is hard to grip which causes significant trouble to
the spin bowlers. A total of around 180 is going to be quite difficult to chase down.
Toss Prediction
Teams choose to field first after winning the toss probably because of some dew that comes in later. That makes batting just a bit easier for the chasing
team. Sharjah is also a ground where you want to know the target when you go into bat. Expect the team that wins the toss to want to field first.
Stats and Facts
Head to head: Matches 16
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 8
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 7
Abandoned: 1
Approaching Milestones:
Virat Kohli requires 76 runs to complete 500 runs in IPL 2020.
Devdutt Padikkal needs 83 runs to complete 500 runs in IPL 2020.
Manish Pandey is 18 runs away from completing 1000 IPL runs for SRH.
David Warner needs 63 runs to complete 500 runs in IPL 2020
Likely XIs:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Josh Philippe, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shivam Dube/Moeen Ali, Chris
Morris, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana/Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan,
Shahbaz Nadeem, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma
Players to Watch Out For:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Morris, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan
Match Odds:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1.72
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 2.10
SantaBanta's Winner Prediction: Royal Challengers Bangalore
IPL 2020 Winner Live Odds
Mumbai Indians - 2.4
Royal Challengers Bangalore - 4
Delhi Capitals - 5
Kings XI Punjab - 9
Rajasthan Royals - 17
Kolkata Knight Riders - 21
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 23
Match Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Time: 7.30 PM IST
TV: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar VIP
