RCB vs SRH: Preview, head-to-head and Fantasy XI
A resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hosting table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad in match number 51 of 2018 Indian Premier League. RCB need a victory at any cost to keep their chances alive to qualify for the play-offs. SRH were beaten by CSK in the previous encounter and they will hope to bounce back. Here is our pre-match report.
SRH have dominated in head-to-head meetings
The two sides have met 11 times in total and SRH have a commanding lead of 7-4. But at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, RCB have a 3-2 cushion. Earlier this season when the two sides met, SRH clinched the tie. Having said that, all eyes will be on both skippers, who are in exceptional form with the bat.
Probable Playing XI - Royal Challengers Bangalore
Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Virat Kohli (captain), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Probable Playing XI - Sunrisers Hyderabad
Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales, Kane Williamson (captain), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Shreevats Goswami (wicket-keeper), Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma.
Pitch to assist batsmen in a high-scoring affair
The pitch is likely to assist batsmen with something in there for the bowlers as well. Team batting first will need to score anything above 180+ to have a shot. According to reports, the weather will be cool with temperatures in the region of 28 degrees. The sky is set to be cloudy. We could see teams preferring to bowl first here.
Stat box - RCB vs SRH
Virat Kohli has scored more runs against SRH than any other batsmen (473). Bhuvneshwar Kumar has 12 wickets from 13 matches against RCB. Sandeep Sharma has enjoyed bowling against RCB. He has 17 wickets from 10 matches. The average first innings total here is 182 runs. Umesh Yadav has taken 13 wickets in power-plays, which is the most by any bowler.
Virat our choice as skipper, Kane vice-captain - Fantasy XI
Virat Kohli gets the nod as skipper of the Fantasy XI and run-machine Kane Williamson is our choice as the vice-captain. RCB wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel gets a place along with the likes of AB de Villiers, Deepak Hooda and Alex Hales. Colin de Grandhomme will be the lone all-rounder. Bhuvi leads the bowling with Chahal, Southee and Kaul in the mix.
