Playoffs spot up for grabs, one last time, for depleted Sunrisers

Sunrisers Hyderabad arrive at their final stop of the league stages - Bengaluru - knowing what needs to be done, but also grudgingly aware of their depleted firepower. The equation hasn't changed since their heartbreak at the Wankhede - a win would still almost certainly be enough to nab that last remaining playoff berth on account of a superior net run rate, which is more than what can be said of their three competitors anyway who don't have the luxury of being in charge of their own destiny.

Funny thing that, being in charge. The Sunrisers were in charge against the Mumbai Indians after restricting them to a modest 162, the lowest first-innings score at the Wankhede this season. They were also in charge after a flying start to their run-chase. And then, all of a sudden, they were not. The soft underbelly of the batting, pampered until then by the staggering exploits of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, didn't have that security blanket anymore.

Manish Pandey has risen to the fore splendidly since his promotion to No.3, but he'll need back-up. And if those prospects don't look promising, they could be tempted to beef up their bowling instead by bringing Billy Stanlake into the mix for Martin Guptill, and promoting Kane Williamson to the top - where he scored most of his runs last season to finish as the leading run-scorer.

Royal Challengers have no such worries; they're already out of the picture and are too busy 'having fun'. And not surprisingly, that shift in mindset, playing to express themselves, has enhanced performances and brought about better results. After a disappointing campaign, they'll at least want to sign off on a high in front of a home crowd that's stood by them right through.

When: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, May 4, at 8:00 PM IST

Where: Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

What to expect: Conditions are expected to be cloudy, without any rain. A light cover of grass on the pitch, as seen on match eve, could go either of two ways, from what we've seen in this season. It could hold the pitch nicely together for the ball to come on, or there could be some nip for the seamers.

Team News

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Marcus Stoinis has left the squad to join Australia's World Cup camp, which could see Shimron Hetmyer brought back from the cold. RCB played their previous match with just three overseas players anyway, and have the option of going back to Tim Southee and Colin de Grandhomme as well.

Probable XI: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer/Colin de Grandhomme, Heinrich Klaasen, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Billy Stanlake hasn't played this season at all, and it could be a risk bringing him in with so much riding on this match. Yet, it depends on how the team management reads the pitch. Also, if the conditions do have a bit of nip, bringing back Sandeep Sharma would make a lot of sense.

Probable XI: Martin Guptill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson (c), Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed

Did you know:

• SRH have won five of their last six games against RCB,

• Virat Kohli has 488 runs in 12 games against SRH - the second highest against the 2018 finalists after Shane Watson

• Sandeep Sharma has dismissed Virat Kohli joint-most number of times in the IPL (six)

What they said:

"My view is you are only having fun when you are winning. We're going in tomorrow's game to want to win it and we've picked the team that we think is best suited to win that game." - RCB head coach Gary Kirsten