Abu Dhabi: With momentum on its side, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) would look for another complete performance when it meets Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator here on Friday.
While RCB suffered four consecutive defeats to finish the league stage at the fourth spot, SRH registered a hat-trick of wins to edge past Virat Kohli’s men in the standings.
SRH made a remarkable turnaround in their final three games – defeating Delhi Capitals, RCB and table-toppers Mumbai Indians to book their last-fourth berth.
And come Friday, SRH would be brimming with confidence, especially after their 10-wicket win over MI in the last must-win game.
The credit for SRH’s success in the past few matches goes to the opening pair of Warner and Wriddhiman Saha.
RCB, who were looking favourite to finish in the top two at one stage, only managed seven wins and lost the same number of matches to finish at the fourth spot. They were out of form in the second half and lost four back-to-back matches. The three-time runners-up suffered due to low strike-rates and change in the opening combination.
Josh Phillipe has given good starts to the team but has not been able to play a big knock so far. Add to it an injury to lead pacer Navdeep Saini, who is highly likely to miss the Eliminator.