Sunrisers Hyderabad will cross swords with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL final at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Sunrisers rode on a brilliant counter-attacking knock from their captain David Warner (93 n.o., 58b, 12x4, 3x6) to cruise past Gujarat Lions by four wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium on Friday.
Chasing a total of 162/7, Sunrisers were reeling at 84/5 but Warner fought with a stand-alone spirit that finds resonance with Royal Challengers captain Virat Kohli. With the victory, Sunrisers also maintained their unbeaten run this season on Lions, who had got a second shot in the final by virtue of their top-rung finish in the league. They had lost to Royal Challengers at Bengaluru by four wickets in the first qualifier.
The Royal Challengers are on a hot five-match winning streak, which incidentally started against Lions in Bengaluru. The Royal Challengers and Sunrisers share 1-1 record against each this year. The Bengaluru unit’s sensational turnaround is the story of this edition and they would be keen to provide it a fairy tale finish. More so, they are well rested and peaking at the right time. It has been a contrasting journey to the final for Royal Challengers and Sunrisers. While Sunrisers had been exchanging the top rung with the Lions for the majority of the season, Royal Challengers had to work hard to get their act together.
They even found themselves on the brink of elimination before the genius and determination of Kohli and AB de Villiers showed the way. They would be bustling with a new-found confidence, especially the way de Villiers handed them the triumph in the first qualifier, with his unbeaten knock. Sunrisers have a gigantic task at hand. With Kohli and Warner at the helm there will be no dearth of fire power and determination to win. It is surely going to be an action-packed day on Sunday.
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