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Showing posts with label Sunrisers Hyderabad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunrisers Hyderabad. Show all posts

Sunday 29 May 2016

IPL2016 Final: And Then There Were Two ... RCB vs SRH

#IPL2016
#IPLFinal
#RCBvsSRH
Bengaluru, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium

After a two months of heavy action and hustle-bustle between 8 teams, the two best performing teams have reached the finals. I wont say they are the best teams of the tournament though.

#RCB had a horrible start and they were precariously placed until the #Virat-AB show saved them the blushes. Their biggest weaklink, their bowling came good at the right moment too and they are now the team to beat on current form.

#SRH on the other hand, started brilliantly. Their bowling, arguably the best bowling side of the tournament, pushed them top of table early in the tourney but reversals down the line meant they had to huff-puff their way to the qualifiers. Its only in the Eliminator and Qualifier2 that they seem to build an intensity to win the title.

So, WHO WILL WIN THE CUP??

Batting
RCB have a clear edge here. Virat, AB, Gayle, Watson, KL Rahul, Baby, Binny are better than their SRH counterparts head to head. Virat beats Dhawan, AB negates Warner, Gayle negates Yuvraj, Watson beats Henriques on experience, Rahul, Baby and Binny seem better off than Dwivedi, Ojha and Hooda. Mind you SRH batting can explode anytime. Yuvi is due and has shown he can take the bowlers to the cleaners. Bipul Sharma's cameos in both previous games tilted victory towards SRH from tricky situations. Look out for him and Dwivedi. Dhawan is over due.

RCB will expect the law of averages has hit Virat just in that Qualifier1 game. If he scores his first 10 runs with confidence today, he will close the game. So will AB or Gayle. Thats why they are a more formidable batting lineup than SRH.

Bowling
The scenario changes by 180 degrees here. SRH has been the bowling side of the tournament and that too without too many spinners! Bhuvaneshwar and Mustafizur have led that attack brilliantly. Henriques, Boult, Sran and Cutting have played their support role very well too.

RCB on the other hand, have some issues with their bowling. Although Watson with all his experience and Jordan with his wily death over bowling skills, can do damage they have shown propensity to go for a lot of runs too. An off day would be mean chasing 20-25 runs extra with added pressure. Chahal has been their trump of the season though.His leggies have baffled teams and in rush of scoring against him, they have perished to his guile. Aaron, Richardson haven't done much to instill confidence of their skipper. Abdulla is a good spinning option alongside Chahal.

Experience of IPL Finals?
#RCB have experienced IPL finals before in 2009 and 2011 but lost both of them while #SRH are straddling unknown territory. Who will feel better? Guess, SRH because they have nothing to lose, they will treat it as a new fresh game but RCB with those two losses in their bag will carry bad memories with them.

Home ground Advantage?
Yes, very much with RCB. They will have the home crowd rooting for them big time and put pressure on visiting SRH. Also, Eliminator and Qualifier1 were played in New Delhi. The conditions, pitch were dramatically different than Chinnaswamy.

X-Factors
For RCB, it would be undoubtedly Chahal's bowling alongside #Virat-AB batting combination.

For SRH, it would be their key bowlers - Bhuvi, Mustafizur (if fit) and #Warner's batting.

Weather?
Rain is forecast for match day and this will make things interesting especially at the toss. Monday is reserve day for the finals though.

Preparations?
RCB qualified for the final on Tuesday (4 days ago) and already camped in Bengaluru since. They will have rested their players well, tackled niggling injuries and adjusted to the conditions better. 
SRH on the other hand had to sweat it out in Eliminator on Wed, Qualifier1 on Friday and then fly down from NewDelhi to Begaluru late last evening (owing to a flight delay). This has given them very less, if at all, time to recuperate and prepare for this game at the venue.

All in all looks like a SRH Bowling vs RCB Batting contest this.
Can't wait for the game to get started.
Let the best team win!!!

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Monday 20 April 2015

Which Team Has Played The Best Thus Far?

#IPL8

The IPL is hotting up. Some teams have hit the groove well right from the start while some of them are just settling in. Players have hit their straps upfront while others have struggled outright. The IPL has been a roller coaster already..

While #CSK and #RR have been the best winning teams till date (RR is unbeaten while CSK has only been beaten by RR), #MI, #RCB and #KXIP have had a hard time getting off the blocks. 

MI, after losing 4 straight games before pulling one back against RCB, may just have got the impetus to make a dash at the top teams. KXIP and RCB have struggled to close games (RCB "almost" pulled it against MI only to stumble at the end while KXIP were blown away by #KKR's Russell-Yusuf partnership after dominating the game for most part). SRH have been shaky while KKR has been steady through their good batting and bowling, #CSK has always been a strong horse with wonderful balance led by the charismatic #MSDhoni and #RR have topped everyone with their batting heroes - Rahane, Steve Smith, Watson, Hooda, etc)

So, who do you think will take the first four spots in that league table at half way stage (7 games each)? RR and CSK seem to be certainly there but the other two? maybe KKR and SRH? or will RCB, MI or KXIP pull up some surprises?

Its all happening at #IPL2015 ... stay tuned!

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