Bangalore take on Hyderabad

Bengaluru, May 28

Virat Kohli's inspirational leadership for Royal Challengers Bangalore will be up against the brute force of David Warner's Sunrisers Hyderabad in a high-intensity summit clash tomorrow.

RCB, however, will have a slight advantage over Sunrisers as they have the experience of playing in an IPL final twice — 2009 and 2011, but on both the occasions, they had finished runners-up. Sunrisers' best finish was a playoff berth in their debut season in 2013.

RCB witnessed a topsy-turvy campaign initially and were in a spot of bother at one stage. They needed to win their last four games to make it to the playoffs and the Bangalore outfit didn't just achieve it but also recorded their fifth straight win to get a shot at the final.

With momentum on their side, RCB would be determined to make the opportunity count and Kohli, AB de Villiers would be raring to go.

Kohli highest run-getter

Kohli has been impressive as a 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's gutsy batting and leadership qualities turned the tide. He 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, including one century and six half-centuries.

Besides Kohli and de Villiers, Chris Gayle would also be eyeing a big knock tomorrow. RCB's turnaround in bowling is due to leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who is the second- highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 20 scalps from 12 games.

Tomorrow's match would give RCB an opportunity to avenge their 15-run loss to Sunrisers in the last clash between the two teams.

Sunrisers too would be banking on their skipper Warner, who led from the front to ensure a maiden IPL final berth for the Hyderabad outfit. Warner has so far amassed 779 runs from 16 games with eight fifties, next only to Kohli in the run-getters' list.

Besides Warner, Sunrisers also have Shikhar Dhawan (473 runs), Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha and big-hitting all-rounder Ben Cutting in the batting department. Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar seems to have found his mojo back and is leading the wicket-takers' chart with 23 wickets from 16 games, while Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman (16 wickets from 15 matches), has also lived up to his skipper's expectations. — PTI

‘Me and Warner think on similar lines, it will be tough game'

Virat Kohli is expecting an intensely-fought final against Sunrisers Hyderabad since he and rival skipper David Warner are fierce competitors on the field. “I think we think on similar lines. We try to do things ourselves first which we are expecting from our teammates. There is similarity between me and Warner, in terms of approaching the game,” he said. Asked to share his thoughts on whether the final would be a battle between RCB's batting and Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling prowess, Kohli said no team can storm into the final without having a balance in the batting and bowling department. “They (SRH) are one of the most balanced teams before the tournament started. We are aware of it. They are into the final and it cannot be done without their batting. Same with us too, we could not have been in the final without our bowlers blazing guns,” he argued. Kohli said the youngsters, including Yuzuvendra Chahal should take tomorrow's match as any other game and enjoy in the middle as they did in the last six games. — PTI

468 Runs by Warner while chasing in the IPL-9, the most by a batsman while chasing in any IPL season

81 Runs Kohli needs to become the first batsman to score 1000 runs in an IPL season. Out of eight innings at the Chinnaswamy this season, Kohli has crossed fifty six times

Tonight IPL final

Bangalore vs Hyderabad (8pm)

Live on SONY SIX