Kohli in focus as Bangalore play Hyderabad in must-win game
HYDERABAD: Virat Kohli will be in focus as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) look to strengthen their claim for an IPL play-off berth in their must-win match against laggards Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad on May 18.
RCB are currently in the fith spot with 12 points from as many games and face two must-win matches to guarantee their play-off spot.
SRH, on the other hand, are out of the tournament and languishing at the ninth spot with eight points from 12 matches.
Alongside skipper Faf du Plessis, Kohli is one of the top-scorers for RCB but ater back-to-back failures — 18 against Rajasthan Royals and 1 against Mumbai Indians — the maestro would be looking to produce his best against SRH and help his side’s cause.
Du Plessis has been leading the side from the front and is in scintillating form, occupying the top spot in run-geter’s list with 631 runs from 12 games at an average of 57.36.
Kohli is the next best RCB bater with 438 runs, averaging 39.81 with six fities. But unlike Du Plessis, Kohli has not been consistent enough and has struggled with his strike-rate at times.
The other bater RCB would be banking on is Glenn Maxwell, who has made a great impact with his sparkling knocks, which includes five half-centuries. RCB are high on confidence ater a commanding 112-run demolition of Rajasthan Royals in their last game.
Riding on Du Plessis and Maxwell’s back-toback fities, RCB posted 171 for 5 and then Wayne Parnell (3/10) led the way in the company of Michael Bracewell (2/16), Karn Sharma (2/19) and Mohammed Siraj (1/10) to bundle out RR for a paltry 59.
On the bowling front, the onus would again be on Parnell, Siraj and Bracewell to deliver the goods.
The last match also saw RCB return to winning ways ater back-to-back defeats against MI and Delhi Capitals. SRH, on the other hand, will play for pride ater becoming the second team to crash out of the tournament. SRH would look to give their fans something to cheer about by registering wins in their remaining two games. It has been lacklustre outing for SRH this season, both in bating as well as bowling department.
Barring Heinrich Klaase and, to some extent, Rahul Tripathi, no other bater could deliver for the team. SRH were hit hard by the poor form of their skipper Aiden Markram as much was expected of the South African. Harry Brook showed sparks initially before fading away while Mayank Agarwal was nowhere to be noticed.
Among bowlers, the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the most successful with 14 wickets from 12 games, but he too didn’t look at his best. Mayank Markande (12 wickets from 10 games) impressed but SRH suffered heavily due to the poor form of Jansen, T Natarajan and Umran Malik.