What a way to book a place in the final — Royal Challengers Bengaluru absolutely thrashed Gujarat Titans, and honestly, there is no softer way to put it. Yesterday, the exact concern we’ve been repeatedly talking about on this blog regarding GT was brutally exposed at the worst possible time. Throughout the season, we kept mentioning how heavily dependent Gujarat are on their top three, and how vulnerable their middle order could become if early wickets fell. Well, that is exactly what happened in Qualifier 1.
Yes, RCB posted a massive target of 255, but without those trademark starts from Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, GT honestly may not even have crossed 200. That middle-order weakness — something that had been hidden for most of the season because of the brilliance of the top order — was completely exposed under playoff pressure.
And the scary part for Gujarat is that they still have another knockout game left to play. If the same weakness gets exposed again in Qualifier 2, then honestly, it becomes very difficult to see GT surviving and making the final.
Coming to today’s clash, it is yet another battle of explosive opening pairs, as “Travishek” and Sunrisers Hyderabad take on “Jaisoorya” and Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator at Mullanpur. And honestly, what a game of cricket this promises to be.
The last time these two sides faced each other, 15-year-old sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi absolutely demolished SRH’s bowling attack, helping RR put up a massive total of 229 — a score that would have been difficult for almost any team to chase. But for Hyderabad’s explosive batting lineup, they somehow made it look easy.
This will now be the third meeting between these two teams this season, but it is quite obvious that this clash is the one that truly matters. Because tonight, it is simple — win and stay alive, lose and go home. It is officially do-or-die time.
Expected Playing 11:
SRH:
- Abhishek Sharma
- Travis Head
- Ishan Kishan (WK)
- Heinrich Klassen
- Aniket Verma
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Salil Arora
- Pat Cummins (C)
- Harshal Patel
- Eshan Malinga
- Shivang Kumar
Impact Player- Sakib Hussain
RR
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
- Dhruv Jurel (WK)
- Riyan Parag (C)
- Donovan Ferreira
- Dasun Shanaka
- Shubham Dube
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Jofra Archer
- Yash Raj Punja
- Nadre Burger
Impact Player- Brijesh Sharma
Head to Head:
| Matches- | 23 |
| SRH Won- | 14 |
| RR Won- | 9 |
| No Result- | 0 |
Pitch and Weather Conditions:
Ah, the IPL finally returns to Mullanpur after almost a month, mainly because the home side, Punjab Kings, had shifted a few of their games to the beautiful hills of Dharamshala. And now, the venue returns in style with a blockbuster Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals.
A high-scoring clash is almost expected tonight, and not just because of the quality of batters on display. On one side, SRH have destructive stars like Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Travis Head. On the other, RR bring exciting young Indian talent like Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel.
But the batting fireworks are not only because of the players — the surface itself heavily favours batting. The last game played here came back in late April, and RR will certainly have fond memories of it, as they chased down 223 against PBKS and kickstarted Punjab’s brutal six-match losing streak — the very collapse that ultimately kept PBKS out of this Eliminator and allowed RR to take their place.
Coming to the weather, as we speak right now around 6:20 PM, conditions in Mullanpur are absolutely scorching, with temperatures hovering around 40°C. Thankfully for the players, it is expected to gradually cool down into the mid-30s as the match progresses. It’s a beautiful — though extremely hot — evening for the Qualifier 2 opponent of Gujarat Titans to be decided, and importantly, there is no rain expected tonight.
Prediction:
Who wins this one? Honestly, it is an incredibly tough call. Two explosive batting lineups, two relatively inexperienced bowling attacks, and both teams coming into this Eliminator with strong momentum — this has all the ingredients for an absolute thriller.
Sunrisers Hyderabad are coming into this game after massive wins against Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, while Rajasthan Royals have built momentum with victories over Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians.
But we are slightly leaning towards SRH here. And the main reason is the level of opposition they defeated during their recent run. CSK’s current position on the points table may not reflect it properly, but during the middle phase of the season, they were actually playing some excellent cricket and genuinely looked like playoff contenders. And as for RCB — well, after what they did in Qualifier 1, their form speaks for itself.
Meanwhile, RR’s recent wins came against LSG and MI, the bottom two sides on the table, both of whom struggled badly throughout the season. Those are still good wins to have, but beating struggling teams is very different from facing the third-placed side in a high-pressure knockout game.
That is why we are backing SRH to edge this Eliminator and move one step closer to the IPL Final.
If you want to see Travishek VS Jaisoorya in a high stakes knock out game, also known as ‘Eliminator’ in the IPL, then tune into JioHotstar at 7:30 PM IST.
Until next time!
Thank you.
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