Hyderabad: The Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to carry on their winning momentum to book a play-offs berth when they take on an equally keen Royal Challengers Bangalore in a crucial IPL clash on Friday.
The David Warner-led side is on a roll at the business end of the tournament after winning three straight games to be in contention of reaching the final-four.
RCB though, are in treacherous waters after their loss against bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab in a rain-curtailed game on Wednesday but the Virat Kohli-led side are also in the play-offs race with 13 points from 12 games.
SRH, with 7 wins and 5 losses, found their rhythm last week against the Rajasthan Royals, who are also in the final-four race, when their top-order combined well to help them post a big total of 201.
Accused of heavily relying on orange cap holder Warner, who leads the run-getter’s chart with 504 runs in 12 games, SRH saw Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques and Eoin Morgan score significant runs in the team’s 7-run win against RR.
Australian all-rounder Henriques has not only contributed with the bat (a match-winning 74 not out against Delhi Daredvils) but also played his part with the ball (3-16 against Kings XI Punjab) in times of need.
The bowling, led by Trent Boult, has also looked potent with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Praveen Kumar providing adequate support. Finding their bearings just in the nick of time, SRH are looking like the dark horse of the tournament.
But RCB can never be counted out in the race as the threat of Chris Gayle always looms large against any opposition when the Vijay Mallya-owned side takes the field.
Gayle apart, the captain Virat Kohli, AB de Villers and their main bowling force Mitchell Starc have all made quite an impact.