Sunrisers Hyderabad lost the Qualifier 1 against Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday, and they had to wait late till Wednesday to find out their opponent of the Qualifier 2. Rajasthan Royals won against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator and will face SRH in the all-important tie. SRH must be a happy bunch seeing the RCB vs RR result on Wednesday, and would be more eager to face RR than RCB. Let’s check the reasons.
Form of RR vs RCB
Royal Challengers Bengaluru were reeling at the bottom of the IPL 2024 table at one point of time. Virat Kohli’s side had lost first 7 out of their 8 matches, and no one gave them a chance to qualify for the playoffs. However, they won 6 matches on trot to qualify for the playoffs. Another win over RR would have meant RCB arriving in Chennai at the peak of their confidence. Add to that, Kohli’s fan-following all over the country. SRH would not have found it easy against RCB.
Rajasthan Royals on the other hand were winless in their last 5 matches on the group stage before winning against RCB in the eliminator. Sanju Samson’s team started the tournament brilliantly, but lost their way towards the end and had to reach the Qualifier 2 the hard way. SRH would rather take a team with 1 win in last six games than a team that hasn’t lost any game in their last seven matches.
Head-to-Head in IPL 2024
In IPL 2024, SRH have faced RR only once. The match turned out to be a thriller, with SRH winning by a solitary run. Rajasthan were given a target of 202 by SRH, but they could only score 200 in 20 overs.
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RCB on the other hand beat SRH by a convincing margin of 35 runs in the last match they faced each other. Kohli and Patidar had scored half-centuries each while no SRH player could make their team go anywhere near the target. If SRH had faced RCB in the Qualifier 2, that defeat would have lingered on SRH’s mind.
So all in all, Pat Cummins and co would take the Chennai pitch with a positive frame of mind knowing they are facing a team struggling for form at the backend of the tournament rather than a team that peaked at the right time.
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