RCB vs SRH IPL 2021 Preview: 6th Oct - Bangalore out to explore Qualifier 1 possibilities against floundering Hyderabad

Royal Challengers Bangalore sealed qualification for the IPL 2021 playoffs after they beat Punjab Kings by six runs in their last match.

LIVE SCORES - Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Match 52 

RCB's playoff scenarios

The team is most likely to finish at the number three spot. However, they still have a chance of making it to Qualifier 1. For that, Chennai Super Kings will have to lose their last match of the league stage and Bangalore will have to win both their remaining matches.

If Chennai lose their last match and Bangalore lose one of their last two, they would not be able to leapfrog CSK in the points table due to their inferior net run rate.

Finally settling down on best XI

In what was a rare occurrence, Bangalore decided to go in with the same team for the last match. This is perhaps also a sign that they have begun to settle down with a particular combination.

Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal have done a decent job for RCB at the top with Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers firing in the middle order. They only need to get a couple more things right. Dan Christian and Srikar Bharat have been moved around in the middle order a lot, and should get some stability.

Shahbaz Ahmed, in whatever little we have seen of him, has come across as a utility player and is a like-for-like replacement for Washington Sundar.

Their bowling has been spot on. Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal have particularly risen to the occasion in the last couple of matches and RCB are expected to remain unchanged once again.

 SRH unearth raw talent

Sunrisers Hyderabad lost their last match against Kolkata Knight Riders but they will take heart from the fact that despite defending just 116, they took the match to the last over. 

Young Indian tearway Umran Malik was the talking point in SRH's last match as he crossed 150 kph on debut.

Garg, Sharma, Roy need to deliver

Indian youngsters Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma have been getting opportunities but are yet to produce anything substantial. With their leading Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar not at his best, SRH will look towards Jason Holder and Rashid Khan to provide them with the breakthroughs.

Jason Roy will want to cash in on the chances he's getting, particularly when he is replacing David Warner in the playing XI.

Predicted playing XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Dan Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, George Garton, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sunrisers Hyderabad - Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Priyam Garg, Kane Williamson (c), Abhishek Sharma, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Siddarth Kaul

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