The Qualifier 1 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season turned out to be a dull one-sided affair. Kolkata Knight Riders, who finished at the top of the table at the league stage, comfortably beat Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday to enter the final.
Now, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has predicted that the Eliminator will be another one-sided affair.
The knockout match will see Royal Challengers Bengaluru take on Rajasthan Royals at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad tonight.
Ahead of the blockbuster IPL 2024 match, Gavaskar predicted that RCB will not struggle much to overcome RR, who lost four consecutive matches to end the league stage of the competition.
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On the other hand, RCB have looked invincible in the past few games. They qualified for the playoffs after winning six matches in a row.
According to Gavaskar, the winning streak has certainly boosted the confidence of RCB and it will keep them ahead of RR tonight.
“Rajasthan, they have lost four matches. They have not played their last game as well. They have been out of practice. Unless they do something special that KKR did today, despite not playing for 11 days, it could well turn out to be another one-sided game tomorrow (Wednesday). My fear is it will be another one-sided game tomorrow, where the RCB will walk all over RR. I will be surprised if that does not happen,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
The former Indian captain further said that RCB have pulled off a “phenomenal” comeback in the league stage.
RCB spent the majority of the time at the bottom half of the points table.
To confirm their qualification, RCB had to wait until the last game where they registered a 27-run triumph over the reigning champions Chennai Super Kings to seal a spot in the playoffs.
Gavaskar also credited senior members of the RCB squad including captain Faf du Plessis and former skipper Virat Kohli for motivating other players.
“You have to say that their leading players Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli – they are the guys who are mostly encouraging the other players. Other team members can quickly get into a situation like, ‘Oh we have lost everything’. Both of them have played extraordinary cricket,” the cricketer-turned-commentator explained.
RCB and RR met once in Jaipur during the league stage earlier this IPL. The home side had the last laugh in the contest, picking up a six-wicket victory.
RCB, however, lead the overall head-to-head records, having won 15 of the 31 face-offs.
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