SRH vs RCB: Royal Challengers Bangalore, With Everything To Play For, Face Nothing-To-Lose SunRisers Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Who would be SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). After being jostled around by virtually all comers, they still must play two more matches with nothing more than statistics and individual preferences to play for. But that too won’t be an easy job when they host Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their penultimate Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 game, a match RCB absolutely have to win to keep their challenge for the qualifiers alive. They too have two matches to go, and full points are vital in a contest where anywhere between three to five teams can still make a serious bid to upstage those desperately holding on to their positions on top of the points table.

RCB have 12 points from as many games but with two matches to go, they will be hoping to get to 16, which could well be the cut-off for the next round. While they would certainly be gunning for two points against SRH, their next and last game is versus defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT), who have already qualified and would love to keep their top spot intact.

SRH don’t seem to be a challenge though. Two consecutive defeats have made their inglorious season worse, with nothing but figures to play for. The entire SRH squad, with ironically more superstars in the coaching staff than in the actual playing time, would really be up for a revamp, come next year. Surely, no franchise owner would be pleased with this show.

They lost quite poorly to GT in their last game, and there is precious little that seems to be right with the Hyderabad batting or bowling. Heinrich Klaasen is the only batter who will return home with his head held high while the rest, including skipper Aiden Markram will have a lot of introspection to do, not to mention the questions they will have to face.

As for RCB, they must be upbeat after hammering Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their last game, winning by a massive 112 runs, which was immensely helpful to their run-rate. Everything clicked for them that day, but it still seems that only two out of the top three – Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell – will score on any given day and this time, it was the turn of Du Plessis and Maxwell. Plus, they got some precious runs from Anuj Rawat towards the end.

But this batting issue has stayed through IPL 2023 and it could well be the difference between RCB being just competitive and winning this time.
As of now, apart from RCB, there are several teams still looking for that one elusive set of points to seal the deal. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are right up there, and Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) win over Mumbai Indians (MI) was like gold dust for them, though MI are still very much in it.

Even Punjab Kings (PBKS) have a chance to hurdle over some of these sides, while RR are suddenly on the verge at the other end.
Not a time to lose points, so RCB will be keen. As for SRH, they would be hoping that their IPL 2023 ends soon, so that they can get back home and hide away from the misery.