Delhi secured second position in the playoffs and the flaw in their qualification, as expressed in Qualifier 1 Preview, got disclosed in the manner they chased 200. If the first match of playoffs, somehow, failed offering a quality contest to the dissatisfaction of cricket lovers, it was an expected one too, given to Delhi’s performance in the last few matches. Still, three down without a score on board was absolutely terrible.
Royal Challengers Bangalore should not follow in Delhi’s footsteps. Reaching playoffs with worse performance than Delhi, it’s time for them to be careful. If Hyderabad are not Mumbai, Sunrisers’ performance in last three games might be a problem for RCB. Still we can expect a good game of cricket today, as they had enough time to plan.
RCB must bring Aron Finch back in the side. Though it is in the air that Kohli might be batting in that slot, it’s also right that Finch’s absence failed to bring a change in Bangalore’s fortune. Padikkal will try to play the way he played his last two innings. As the depth of their weak batting line up lies in the magical willows of two cricket giants, AB has to play a match-winning knock. Down the order, Shivam Dube, Morris and Shahabaz Ahmed are able to defend any early crumbling but unable to escalate against Rashid and Nadeem.
Against Warner, Kohli should bring Washington Sundar upfront. It’s a knockout game and Morris must open the bowling straight away. Chahal has always been a game changer for RCB and in a pressure game, he can create panic. Chahal and Udana will continue to bowl in the middle overs. Siraj has mixed success in the tournament and he has to bowl well at this level of competition.
Wriddhiman Saha and Warner have been looking good at the start. Manish Pandey at No 3 is in rhythm. Williamson, Garg and Abdul Samad make the middle order and thus it is combined with experience and energy. Down the order Jason Holder, Rashid Khan and Shahabaz Nadeem can bat and bat for some time. So it’s a balanced batting line up and has the capability of chasing a healthy score.
Sandip Sharma is in terrific touch and crashed into Mumbai’s top order. Jason Holder, the champion Carribian campaigner will take the new ball. In my preview of MI vs SRH, I said T. Natarajan is very straight while targeting the blockhole, and he must deliver once again today. Rashid Khan is the best weapon of Warner, and Nadeem being excellent in the last match makes Sunrisers’ spin attack stronger.
Comparatively slow Abu Dhabi will suit both the teams as both Bangalore and Hyderabad have quality spinners. Delhi were suffering from consistent batting failure and they chose to bat second at Dubai. Keeping in mind the due factor, Shreyas was technically right, but it is not beyond your strength and weaknesses. For RCB, it’ll be better to bat first and assess a good first innings score. Hyderabad may go with the same playing XI.