IPL 2017: SRH v RCB, Game 1 - Match Predictions

It will be the repeat of the last year’s final as Sunrisers Hyderabad play host to Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad in the inaugural encounter of the 2017 edition. The last time these two teams met, it turned out to be a run feast where SRH emerged victorious amidst both teams scoring over 200. David Warner’s team was crowned the champions in Bangalore and fittingly the two teams will mark the start of this year’s tournament as well.

The game starts at 8 PM local time but the rain threat is looming over Hyderabad. The practice sessions had to be called off a day before the game due to persistent showers and the pitch remained under the covers. If the rain again interrupts, the number of overs might be reduced and if it does permit full 20 overs, the seamers would be expected to extract assistance from the surface. In such situations, both teams might look to bowl first after winning the toss.

Here is what Crictracker predicts for the game:

Scenario 1: RCB wins the toss

Toss prediction: RCB would choose to bowl first

First innings score prediction: 160-170

Second innings prediction: SRH would win the match by 10-20 runs

Scenario 2: SRH wins the toss

Toss prediction: SRH would choose to bowl first

First innings score prediction: 140-150

Second innings prediction: SRH would chase the total down with 2 overs in hand

Head to Head Record

Overall: Total Matches – 9, SRH Won – 5, RCB Won – 4

Matches in Hyderabad: Total Matches – 4, SRH Won – 3, RCB Won – 1

SRH hold the upper hand when it comes to head to head battles and more so when the matches are played in Hyderabad. The last meeting between the two also saw SRH defeating RCB as they batted first and powered their way to 208 runs and their bowlers restricted the strong RCB line-up to 8 runs short. They might have looked to do the same if the RCB side was at its full strength but the pitch condition as well as a strong bowling line-up might propel them to field first.

Playing Combinations:

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

The RCB side is hurting badly as their skipper Virat Kohli is out of the side due to the shoulder injury he sustained during the Test series against Australia and is expected to return only after a couple of weeks. To add to their misery, their ace batsman AB de Villiers too will sit out the first match. KL Rahul has already been ruled out of the tournament and Sarfaraz Khan was the latest to add to the list. Their batting will be hugely impacted and the burden will be on Chris Gayle and Shane Watson.

Mitchell Starc had opted to pull out of the league and that made way to the inclusion of Tymal Mills who could bowl well at the death. Yuzvendra Chahal has done a wonderful job of late with his canny leg-spin and recently picked the best ever figures by an Indian in T20Is. So, these two would be the factors in holding the SRH batting to a moderate score. But the absence of other quality bowlers would be weak link and the opposition would look to take full advantage of that.

Mandeep Singh could open along with Gayle and Watson, Kedar Jadhav and Travis Head are expected form the middle order. As the pitch is expected to assist the pacers, Stuart Binny might be included. Mills would be the key bowler for them and they would need another Indian pacer and that would mean either Sreenath Aravind or Aniket Choudhary might get a game.

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

SRH, on the other hand, look better on paper. The captain David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan would do the opening job followed by the experienced Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda and Ben Cutting. Naman Ojha would don the gloves behind the stumps. Their batting is top heavy and would require either of the openers or Yuvraj to play a big innings. Yuvraj was in a terrific form while playing for India against England where he made an excellent comeback in the side and the focus would remain on him throughout the league.

Their bowling would be their major strength that consists of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra to lead the pace attack. The Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan is expected to make his IPL debut with Bipul Sharma being the other spinner in the side. Their ace bowler from the last season Mustafizur Rahman would join the squad after the first game but the bowling unit is still healthy in his absence. The pacers will play a key role on the surface of Hyderabad.

Going by the team compositions, SRH look well balanced in the both the departments whereas RCB are lagging behind due to injuries to their major players. Chances are more in favour of the home side to win again unless the Gayle storm hits them. If Gayle plays well, RCB could be in with a chance otherwise SRH are the favorites to emerge victorious in the first encounter.