Royal Challengers have a score to settle

Momentum is one of the key components of a confident team. Sunrisers Hyderabad have that in abundance and that gives the former champions an edge against the Royal Challengers Bangalore when the two sides meet in the Eliminator of the 13th Indian Premier League in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

For both the teams, it has been a tale of two halves. Putting an end to their long-standing bowling woes and finding the much-desired balance, Virat Kohli’s men powered to five wins out of seven, much to the surprise of many. During that period, problems kept piling up on Sunrisers. Injury to pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar and all-rounder Vijay Shankar, combined with a struggling batting unit crippled their progress.

At the business end of the competition, David Warner's men put the ordinary start behind them to become the final team to make the playoffs. After having managed three wins from the first seven, SRH didn’t lose their nerve at the crunch, clinching hat-trick of victories to advance.

Parallel to SRH’s resurrection, RCB’s form nosedived courtesy their inconsistent batting. Their impressive first-half show helped them sneak into their first playoffs since 2016.

SRH embody a sense of team spirit. Wriddhiman Saha has given their batting a new lease of life. Staring at three must-win games, SRH rejigged their playing XI with Saha’s inclusion being one of the notable changes. The wicketkeeper-batsman responded with scores of 87, 39, and 58 not out. Saha’s aggressive mindset rubbed off on Warner, who has cracked two half-centuries in the last three games.

Bowling is Sunrisers’ primary strength. They have a bowler for every situation. Sandeep Sharma has struck consistently in the Powerplays while Rashid Khan is any batsman's nightmare in the middle-overs. T Natarajan has been impressive with his yorkers towards the death. Throw in Jason Holder in the mix, they form a potent unit.

The Challengers have become predictable in the middle-overs with the bat. Following decent starts in the first six overs, boundaries aren’t coming thick and fast for the three-time finalists. In their most important match of the season, RCB will look to their two pillars: Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Be it in RCB’s best or worst times, one thing that remained constant was the feared duo’s unceasing penchant for big scores. This season though, the two have appeared vulnerable.

By his lofty standards, Kohli has had an average season. RCB have missed the free-flowing Kohli, who conquers attacks with sustained aggression. The skipper’s conservative approach puts RCB to do too much towards the end. De Villiers was at his maverick best initially but in the last four games, the South African great has failed to kick on after good starts.

RCB don’t have happy memories against Hyderabad in deciders. They choked to lose by six runs to Deccan Chargers in the 2009 final. In 2016, they came agonisingly close and floundered again, this time by eight runs. The defeat must have been more painful as it came at their home: M Chinnaswamy stadium. They have a great chance to repay the treatment by eliminating Sunrisers on Friday.