SRH WIN Jason Holder's late assault has ensured Sunrisers Hyderabad run away to a 5-wicket win with 35 balls to spare. While the victory has ensured that SRH stay alive in the playoffs race, the massive margin of defeat has severely dented RCB's Net Run Rate. The Virat Kohli-led side were outplayed with both bat and ball. After being restricted to 120, they struggled to contain Manish Pandey and Wriddhiman Saha in the powerplay. The duo put on a half-century stand for the second wicket but RCB clawed their way back with five wickets. However, that did little to deter SRH's chase. They will now move to Abu Dhabi for their last group clash - against DC. The winner of that match will qualify for the playoffs. The loser will be in with a chance depending on the NRR. SRH, on the other hand, will continue to remain in Sharjah where they will face the defending champions and table toppers Mumbai Indians. Given their positive NRR, a win should guarantee them a spot in the playoffs and a defeat will push them out of contention.
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 52nd Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary
WICKETIsuru Udana joins the party. Kane Williamson is lured into a check drive and Virat Kohli has him caught. RCB aren't going down without a fight tonight, already. 87/4 in 12.1 overs
WICKETYuzvendra Chahal strikes again. He teases Wridhimman Saha out of his crease and has him beaten with his guile. AB de Villiers does a neat stumping.82/3 in 11 overs
WICKET Looking to slog sweep Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey gets a top edge and is caught by Chris Morris. Is there still a way back in the contest for RCB here? 60/2 in 7.4 overs
POWERPLAYManish Pandey and Wriddhiman Saha have taken control of the chase, hammering the RCB bowlers for 58 runs in the powerplay, clearing almost half the target
WICKET RCB have struck early, with Washington Sundar dismissing the dangerous David Warner. The SRH skipper, looking to pull the offspinner, only managed to get an edge to the mid on fielder. Big wicket!
Devdutt Padikkal and Joshua Phillipe have walked out to open the innings for RCB
TOSSSunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and elected to field. Vijay Shankar won't be playing, while RCB make two changes to their XI - Navdeep Saini and Isuru Udana coming in for Shivam Dube and Dale Steyn.
Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Josh Philippe, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers(w), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner(c), Wriddhiman Saha(w), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan
Prelude - Can RCB avoid top-half complacency?
If you're not Mumbai Indians and are in the top-half of the points table, it might seem like the walls are closing in on you. Not very long ago, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore appeared to be part of a special triumvirate along with the defending champions, leaving the chasing pack in their wake.
But call it complacency or lethargy, both DC and RCB have had their cushion taken away from them while MI have marched on regardless. We're into the last four days of the league stage and only team has qualified for the knockouts so far.
Having watched DC stuff up another game earlier today, RCB wouldn't want to follow suit. A win tonight will guarantee their qualification even before they face a wounded DC in the last league game. Virat Kohli & Co. have done better than they usually do in the league stages this time and woud love to exit this race that's starting to get really tough.
As for SRH, their excellent NRR (only inferior to MI's) should give them the boost they need. They can get up to 14 points - as can KXIP, KKR and RR - but their NRR advantage could take them through if it comes to that. But to get there, they need to win both their matches, starting tonight against RCB.