Bengaluru, May 28: Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against David Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad, when the two teams, eyeing their maiden Indian Premier League title, square off in a high-intensity summit clash in Bengaluru on Sunday.
RCB, however, will have a slight advantage over Sunrisers as they have the experience of playing in an IPL final twice in the past — 2009 and 2011, but on both occasions, they finished runners-up.
Sunrisers’ best finish was a playoff berth, which they managed in their debut season in 2013.
RCB witnessed a topsy-turvy campaign initially and were in a real spot of bother at one stage. They needed to win their last four games to make it to the playoffs and the Bangalore outfit did just that and more as they romped into their third IPL final.
The momentum with them, RCB would be determined to make the opportunity count by winning the coveted T20 tournament, having missed the chance twice in the past.
RCB struck form just at the right time and and dished out five clinical performances to beat the Gujarat Lions (by 144 runs), Kolkata Knight Riders (by 9 wickets), Kings XI Punjab (by 82 runs D/L method), Delhi Daredevils (by 6 wickets) and Gujarat (by 4 wickets) again in the Qualifier 1 to seal their place in the title clash.
Kohli and AB de Villiers have been the cynosure of all eyes for RCB with their batsmanship.
Kohli has also been an impressive captain and infused confidence in the team after a disappointing start. At a time when qualifying for the playoffs looked a distant dream for RCB, Kohli made it possible with his glorious batting and leadership qualities.
Without doubt, Kohli seems to be enjoying the best form of his career so far and is the highest run-getter in the tournament, amassing 919 runs from 15 games, which includes six fifties and four centuries with 113 being his highest score.
De Villiers, on the other hand, is the third highest scorer in the league with 682 runs under his belt with, including one century and six half-centuries.
In fact, in the Qualifier 1 at the Chinnaswamy stadium here, RCB, while chasing 159 for the win, were struggling at 29 for five at one stage with Kohli witnessing a rare failure this season.
But then stepped in de Villiers and the South African steered RCB through with a classic unbeaten 79. He put on match-winning 91 runs for the seventh wicket with Iqbal Abdullah (33) to take his side into the final.
Besides Kohli and de Villiers, the big-hitting Chris Gayle would also be eyeing a big knock on Sunday after indicating his return to form in the last few games.
Credit for RCB’s turnaround should also go to the team’s not-so-experienced bowling attack, which was under fire for major part of the tournament.
RCB’s turnaround in bowling was made possible by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who is the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 20 scalps from 12 games.
The late entry of Chris Jordan also helped RCB in containing their rivals in the death overs.
Australian Shane Watson too has served the team well with the ball, picking up 20 wickets from 15 games so far this season.
Sunday’s match would give RCB an opportunity to avenge their 15-run loss to Sunrisers in the last clash between the two teams.