Hyderabad and Bangalore fight out in the eliminator game of the Indian T20 League 2020. It’s a knockout game, and the winner will play Delhi in the second qualifier.
Both sides locked horns in Sharjah few days ago when Hyderabad had the last laugh with a clinical bowling show.
Match Timings: Nov 06, 7:30 PM
Team Preview
After winning three consecutive games with pure dominance, Hyderabad will face Bangalore, who is entering into this fixture with four straight losses, including the 5-wickets loss to Orange Army in Sharjah. It’s an eliminator, so both sides would avoid any mistake there. One mistake can knock them out of the competition.
Hyderabad is following a similar route of 2016 when they won three matches in a row at the playoffs stage and, in the end, won the title. Bangalore and Hyderabad will face each other for the 2nd time in the playoffs stage since 2016's final.
Despite so many injuries, few things went in Hyderabad’s favour. Kane’s injury put Warner in trouble, and he included Holder in the squad. The West Indian player did wonder for them. The same thing happened with Saha. He showed positive intent in the opening slot, scoring 214 runs in 4 innings. It solved Warner’s issue to play Williamson and Holder both in the XI.
The openers are in brilliant form with two 100-runs stands in the previous three outings. Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson are their pillars in the middle-order. Sandeep Sharma in powerplay and Natarajan in death are giving a pure depth in pace-attack. Holder bowls in middle-overs and in death, both of which help Hyderabad to control runs. Rashid Khan is Warner’s big asset, and in the previous game, Nadeem was also excellent with his spin. Hyderabad has a golden opportunity to eliminate Bangalore.
Meanwhile, the ups and downs theory is circulating in Bangalore’s camp. After a gorgeous first half, Kohli’s side lost its spark in the second half. They qualified for the playoffs with a better NRR. Josh Phillipe is a good inclusion in place of Finch. Padikkal is going strong with each game, but Kohli and ABD's reliability cannot create a difference for them. Opponents need to pick either Kohli or ABD to shatter their batting unit. Gurkeerat is not so useful in middle-order, and they could bring Shivam Dubey back. In the bowling unit, only Chahal has been good, along with Chris Morris. Siraj delivers an early blow with the new ball, but the lack of consistency still put Bangalore behind in the game. Kohli tried Sundar in the powerplay at the starting of the tournament, but later, the skipper changed this pattern.
Bangalore needed one good game to get confidence, but the current form makes their journey doubtful. The toss will be a crucial factor, but Bangalore cannot forget their downfall in Sharjah against the same opponent. Hyderabad is favourites, but it’s an eliminator, and one bad game can spoil their all recent success.
Pitch Report
Abu Dhabi’s surface is good for batting, and it has little help to spinners, comparing to Dubai and Sharjah. Batsmen just need to settle once, and it will offer a good amount of runs. The dew will not play a vital role, but still, chasing is the right call. 160-170 would be a tricky total.
Possible XI
Hyderabad
Kane Williamson, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), David Warner (c), Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan, Jason Holder, Priyam Garg, Abdul Samad, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, T Natarajan
Bangalore
Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Josh Philippe (wk), Chris Morris, Mohammed Siraj, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Isuru Udana, Shivam Dube/Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar
Key Players
Hyderabad
David Warner
In Legaue stage – M: 14, Runs: 529, Avg: 44.08
Rashid Khan
In Legaue stage – M: 14, Wickets: 19, Avg: 15.57
Bangalore
Virat Kohli
In Legaue stage – M: 14, Runs: 460 , Avg: 46
Yuzvendra Chahal
In Legaue stage – M: 14, Wickets: 20, Avg: 19.05
