Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler Suddharth Kaul. PTIHyderabad: A consistent Sunrisers Hyderabad unit would look to consolidate its position at the top of the points table while Royal Challengers Bangalore will fight for survival when they clash in the Indian Premier League here on Monday.
Courtesy their splendid bowling attack, SRH emerged as good defenders initially but by defeating Delhi Daredevils with a seven-wicket margin on Saturday, they proved that they can pull off tight chases as well.
The hosts have already taken long strides towards a play-offs spot but still there are issues that must be bothering them ahead of the business end of the tournament. Opener Shikhar Dhawan's low strike rate must be a concern for them along with a shaky middle-order.
The Virat Kohli-led RCB, though, are struggling for survival as they need to win every game and also hope that other results go in their favour to remain in contention for the play-offs. They are placed sixth in the table with just three wins from nine games.
On Monday, Kohli and AB de Villiers will have to weave some magic with their willows to make it tough for SRH, whose bowlers have proved to be headache for all teams. The return of their fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar only strengthens their attack.
RCB's big guns have failed to fire but now is the time to deliver since one more defeat would spell their ouster.
Parthiv Patel (who scored 53 runs against Chennai) and Brendon McCullum need to support their side and the likes of Mandeep Singh and Colin de Grandhomme have to step up.
Death bowling has been a cause for concern for RCB, but they cannot afford to let it remain unchecked when it comes playing against the Sunrisers.
Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have put up good performances but Hyderabad-lad Mohammad Siraj and Washington Sundar also need to come up with a solid show on Monday.
Meanwhile, Sunrises Hyderabad are enjoying a dream run in the ongoing edition with their bowling attack dominating batsmen of all teams. Spinner Rashid Khan, pacers Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma, and spin all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, have been very effective.
They have successfully prevented rivals from chasing down low totals on numerous occasions.
The SRH's batting department, which had appeared to be inconsistent, is also doing good of late as they successfully chased a target of 164 against Delhi.
English batsman Alex Hales, who opened the innings along with Dhawan on Saturday, has been brilliant. SRH captain Kane Williamson is one of the highest run getters in this edition.
Teams:
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C ), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddharth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami, Ricky Bhui, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sachin Baby, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Tanmay Agarwal, Alex Hales, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi and Chris Jordan.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Captain), Quinton de Kock, Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Tim Southee.
