IPL 2021, RCB vs SRH: Virat Kohli elects to field
Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad are locking horns in the 52nd match of 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium is hosting the encounter. RCB have already qualified for the playoffs, while the Orange Army were eliminated from the race earlier. The news from center is that Virat Kohli has won the toss and elected to field first.
Here are the two teams
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Kane Williamson (captain), Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Umran Malik Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli (captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Daniel Christian, Shahbaz Ahmed, Srikar Bharat (wicket-keeper), George Garton, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
Head-to-head: SRH 10-8 RCB
Hyderabad have had the edge over Bangalore as far as the IPL head-to-head record is concerned. In 18 meetings, SRH have won 10 matches with a win percentage of 55.56. Meanwhile, RCB have managed to win eight matches with a win percentage of 44.44. Both sides have won three games each against each other since IPL 2019.
Pitch report and TV listing
The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi is hosting the match. Notably, the batters enjoyed their time in the RR-CSK thriller on this venue. Five of the last six matches here have been won by the teams batting second. One can watch the match live on the Star Sports Network and stream the same on the Hotstar app (paid subscription).
Recap: What happened in the last match?
RCB won the last encounter between the two sides, earlier this season. They racked up 149/8 after SRH elected to field. Glenn Maxwell impressed with a 59-run knock. SRH were cruising on 115/3 in the run-chase. David Warner and Manish Pandey had set the tone for them. However, they faced a batting collapse and eventually lost the match by six runs.
