IPL 2020 – Match 3 – SRH vs RCB Betting Preview

Match Details
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Monday, 21st September 2020
16:00 SA Time

Preview

The third match of the 13th edition of IPL will witness the two southern giants, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) lock horns with each other at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. RCB is one of the most popular teams of the Indian Premier League and have had some of the best t20 batsmen in their ranks over the years but have failed to leave their mark having won none of the three finals they featured in, thus having a trophyless run so far.

After having a dream run at the 2016 IPL to reach the finals, the last three seasons were disastrous for the Bangalore team wherein they finished at the bottom of the table twice and failed to make it to the playoffs on all three occasions.

SRH, on the other hand, is one of the most consistent teams of the League, though hardly ever hyped, and have made it to the playoffs in all of the last four seasons; winning their only title in 2016 after defeating RCB in the finals under the captaincy of David Warner who was later removed as their captain following the Sandpapergate scandal. But this season of IPL sees Warner’s return to the captaincy and he sure will have a point to prove.

Both the teams are top heavy with some of the best white-ball batsmen in their respective sides – David Warner, Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow for SRH and Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Aaron Finch for RCB – but they both lack a solid middle-order batsman to hold the innings together in the middle overs. SRH has somewhat answered that question with Manish Pandey stepping up on multiple occasions in the past two seasons. RCB, however, are yet to find an answer. Another raging issue for the Royal Challengers Bangalore has been their death bowling which has cost them numerous matches but the recent addition of Chris Morris brings stability and strengthens the death bowling.

On the contrary, SRH will bank on their death bowling as it has probably the best death bowling attack in the League. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar will lead the pace attack and SRH will depend on their go-to man Rashid Khan in the death overs. For RCB, Aaron Finch opens with Devdutt Padikkal, an interesting local prospect who has taken the domestic circuit by storm and is expected to have a stellar run at the IPL. This will ease the heavy reliance on AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli. Both the teams will go in the match with all guns blazing and one can expect a lot of fireworks.

Injury and Availability News

None right now.

Probable Playing XI

Sunrisers Hyderabad

David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Virat Singh/Abdul Samad, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal

Key Players to Watch Out For

AB De Villiers: de Villiers has been RCB’s frontline batsman since his inclusion in the side in 2011. The all-time second highest run-getter for RCB, it will be upon him to carry his side over the line and to shape up RCB’s campaign. His ability to score runs all around the ground, finding gaps and accurate placements make him an important cog in the wheel for RCB and Bangalore will heavily depend on him once again to keep their chances alive this season.

Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli is inarguably the best white-ball player in the world and a phenomenal leader. The all-time highest run-scorer in the history of the League, Virat has been a force to reckon with at the RCB. He would like to repeat his heroics of the 2016 season wherein he looked well on track to score 1000 runs, a feat no one deemed achievable in the IPL and ended up with a stellar 973 runs in 16 matches. A part of the RCB squad since the inception on IPL, Virat will play a vital role in ensuring a successful run for the RCB as the Bangalore team has been infamously tagged as the “chokers” for underperforming repeatedly and Kohli would sure look to change that.

Rashid Khan: Over the past couple of years, Rashid Khan has become an invaluable asset for the Sunrisers, especially in the death. His ability to exploit his slower ball and unreadable variations makes him extremely dangerous in the death overs leaving batsmen with no answer more often than not. With 55 wickets in 46 wickets at an economy of just 6.55, Khan has played an important role in taking SRH to the play-offs in the last three seasons and will look forward to repeat the same this season as well.

Value Bets

Sunrisers Hyderabad

David Warner to be Sunrisers Hyderbad top batsman at 2.00

Rashid Khan to be Sunrisers Hyderbad top bowler at 2.00

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli to be Royal Challengers Bangalore top batsman at 1.50

Yuzvendra Chahal to be Royal Challengers Bangalore top bowler at 2.00

Prediction: Sunrisers Hyderabad to win at 0.64

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