But persistent rain delayed the start of play for over two hours, and the game was curtailed to 11-over a side contest.
SRH lost Shikhar Dhawan early for eight to David Weise in the third over.
In a crucial encounter for both the teams, Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner won the toss against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
SRH then took the attack to the RCB bowlers with Moises Henriques blasting his way to 57 off 22 balls.
David Warner combined with Henriques for a 103-run stand in just 7.1 overs. The skipper remained unbeaten on 52 off 32 balls as SRH scored 135 for 3 in their allotted 11 overs.
A second rain interruption at the end of SRH's innings further shortened the game with RCB given a revised target of 81 to win from six overs.
In chase of 81 runs from six overs, Chris Gayle took off right from the onset helping RCB score 41 in two overs before falling to Moises Henriques. Gayle scored 35 off 10 balls.
Moises Henriques brought SRH back in the game with the wicket of AB de Villiers (first ball duck) in the same over as Gayle's wicket.
Virat Kohli stepped up in grand style and scored 38 off 18 balls to lead RCB to a tight victory and boost his team's play-off chances.
Virat Kohli exults after guiding RCB to a tense-win over SRH.
Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers celebrate RCB's win over SRH.