Royal Challengers Bangalore are second in the points table with 14 points from 12 games, while Sunrisers Hyderabad are on 10 points from the same number of games.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to shrug off the disappointment of two back-to-back defeats and get back to winning ways when they taken on Sunrisers Hyderabad as they aim to seal their place in the play-offs, in the IPL match, in Sharjah, on Saturday.
But it would be easier said than done since Sunrisers are brimming with confidence after their crushing win over Delhi Capitals.
Chennai Super Kings, which is the only team to be out of the reckoning, has spiced up the play-off race with their last-ball win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday night.
Going by current standings, RCB are better-placed at second place in the standings and they need to win one of their remaining two games -- against Sunrisers and Delhi -- to make the cut.
And even if RCB lose both their matches and stay on 14 points, they can still qualify but for that they need favourable results from other games.
However, RCB can ill afford to lose both their last two games as it will affect their net run rate, resulting in their elimination if other teams on 14 points have higher run rates.
Sunrisers, on the other hand, have nothing to lose. Sitting on the sixth spot with 10 points from 12 games, the Hyderabad outfit need to win their remaining two matches -- against RCB and Mumbai Indians -- to reach 14 points to stay in the reckoning.
Just winning both the games might not be enough for Sunrisers. They would be hoping that at least one out of RCB, Delhi (14 points) and Kings XI Punjab (12 points) don't reach the magic figure of 16.
If that happens, Sunrisers will progress to the play-offs because of a superior NRR than all the teams which can finish on 14 points.
RCB need to regroup as their confidence definitely took a beating after crushing defeats at the hands of Mumbai and CSK.
While CSK battered Kohli's men by eight wickets in Dubai, Mumbai got the better of RCB by five wickets in their last tie in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night.
For RCB, batting has been their strength with the likes of Virat Kohli, young inform opener Devdutt Padikkal, AB de Villiers and Aaron Finch doing the job.
Young Josh Philippe, who replaced Finch in the last match, scored handy 33 up front but the team's lower middle-order, which has the likes of Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Gurkeerat Mann needs to take more responsibility.
Their biggest challenge will be to counter Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan, who remains an unsolved mystery for batsmen in this tournament.
The pressure he builds with dot balls in the middle overs, while also picking up wickets consistently, has been a big boon for Sunrisers.
On the bowling front, RCB has been hit hard by a split webbing of Navdeep Saini, who missed their last game. Dale Steyn, who replaced him, was rusty and leaked runs and is likely to be replaced by Isuru Udana.
Sunrisers were clinical in their 88-run win over Delhi and would look to continue in the same vein.
Skipper David Warner (66) and Wridddhiman Saha (87), were a treat to watch in their 107-run opening partnership against Delhi, while Manish Pandey (44 not out) continues to shine in the middle-order.
Defending the mammoth 219 for 2, Rashid took 3/7 in four overs as Sunrisers bundled out Delhi for a lowly 131. Besides Rashid, Sandeep Sharma and T Natarajan too were impressive.
RCB will take confidence from the fact that they had beaten Sunrisers when they played in the first leg match in Dubai as they claimed a 10-run victory, riding on Yuzvendra Chahal's 3-18 and half-centuries from Padikkal and de Villiers.
Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers, Gurkeerat Singh, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Navdeep Saini, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Isuru Udana, Moeen Ali, Josh Philippe, Pawan Negi, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Shreevats Goswami, Virat Singh, Priyam Garg, Wriddhiman Saha, Abdul Samad, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Jason Holder, Abhishek Sharma, B Sandeep, Sanjay Yadav, Fabian Allen, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddharth Kaul, Billy Stanlake, T Natarajan, Basil Thampi.
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