SRH vs RCB match prediction: RCB to win
SRH vs RCB toss prediction: RCB to win the toss and bat first
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will be up against the challenge of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Thursday (May 18) in Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Read below for our SRH vs RCB prediction.
Heading into a game that has significant playoff implications, SRH have secured four victories in 12 league matches, while RCB have six wins in 12 appearances. While SRH are already out of the race, if RCB wins this game, they will get closer to an elusive playoff spot; lose, and they gift playoffs qualification to both CSK and LSG, who currently sit on 15 points.
Read also: SRH vs RCB head to head IPL record
Date & time: May 18, 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
Contents
SRH vs RCB match preview
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers have only four victories in 12 league matches and are at the penultimate position in the points table. They are already out of the race to the playoffs and will look to play for pride.
In their last league match, SRH conceded 188 against Gujarat Titans, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar finishing with a five-wicket haul. But the batting unit failed to perform in the must-win game. They lost seven wickets with 59 runs on the board and never recovered from that position. Heinrich Klaasen and Bhuvneshwar Kumar tried their best to put up a fight but they were left with a lot to do.
Eventually, SRH could only reach 154 runs in their 20 overs thereby losing the game by 34 runs. Klaasen scored 64 runs off 44 balls but his knock also went in vain thanks to the collapse of the batting order big time in a must-win encounter.
SRH possible 11: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Sanvir Singh, Mayank Markande, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, T Natarajan
How many fifers for Bhuvi in IPL? 🤔
Look in the image for the answer 😎👇 pic.twitter.com/RlpbxALSXE
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) May 16, 2023
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore are positioned fourth in the points table with six victories in 12 games. They have a chance to book the playoffs spot but they will likely have to win their remaining two games including this one to stay alive and make it to the top four.
RCB got a new lease of life in their previous outing as they beat the Rajasthan Royals by a huge margin of 112 runs defending 171 runs. Faf du Plessis continued his golden run of form and smashed a fifty while Maxwell too slammed a half-century. Anuj Rawat’s assault in the death overs helped RCB post a competitive total on the board.
In response, the Royals never seemed to be in the chase losing wickets at the regular intervals thanks to some brilliant bowling by RCB as they were bundled out for just 59 runs.
RCB possible 11: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Michael Bracewell, Wayne Parnell, Karn Sharma, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj
Off-field bros 😁🫂
On-field pros 🎳🔥#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2023 | @mdsirajofficial @WayneParnell pic.twitter.com/2zjvamHWR6
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) May 16, 2023
Pitch and expected weather conditions
The surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad has been tough on the batters at times. However, the last match played at this venue turned out to be a high-scoring one with Lucknow Super Giants chasing down SRH's 126 with four balls to spare.
The weather is expected to be fair with the temperature hovering around 38 to 40 degrees Celsius in Hyderabad. There is no chance of rain at all during the match.
SRH vs RCB Dream11 prediction
Our SRH vs RCB Dream11 predictions for this match:
- Wicket keepers: Heinrich Klaasen
- Batters: Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Abhishek Sharma, Mahipal Lomror
- All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell, Aiden Markram
- Bowlers: Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wayne Parnell, Mayank Markande
- Recommended captain: Faf du Plessis
- Recommended vice-captain: Mohammed Siraj
The wicket-keeper Heinrich Klaasen has been the top batter for Sunrisers, with more than 300 runs in the season, and can be a trusted pick. The orange cap holder, Faf du Plessis is the captain pick for this game due to his consistent scores and experience. His partner, Virat Kohli is likely to stitch an important partnership with him, and is expected to get big runs, according to our SRH vs RCB Dream11 prediction.
Abhishek Sharma and Mahipal Lomror are the attacking options for both teams and if one of them fires, they can keep your fantasy points buzzing. In the all-rounder department, Glenn Maxwell is in good nick and is coming into this game after hitting a fifty. The SRH captain, Aiden Markram is expected to come out of bad form in this fixture.
Mohammed Siraj is the best bowler pick for your fantasy team due to his wicket-taking abilities and renewed confidence and rhythm. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Wayne Parnell are coming off impressive performances in the last game. The spinner Mayank Markande has also done well this season.
SRH vs RCB match prediction: Royal Challengers Bangalore to win
Our SRH vs RCB match prediction is that the Royal Challengers Bangalore are expected to continue their form as they look to stay in contention. The likes of Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell are in bright form, while Mohammed Siraj and Wayne Parnell are taking wickets consistently. Their opposition, SRH have been disappointing in 2023, with their batting being inconsistent throughout the season.
SRH vs RCB toss prediction: RCB to win the toss and bat first
Our SRH vs RCB toss prediction: The Royal Challengers Bangalore have secured victories on five out of six occasions while batting first in this season. In fact, they recorded a huge victory in their last league game in the same manner. They are likely to follow the same path, after winning the toss in this crucial game as well.
Man of the match prediction: Faf du Plessis
One of the finest overseas players in the cash-rich league, Faf du Plessis is leading the batting charts of the season yet again with his consistency. He has been impressive in providing a clinical start to the team, and accelerates well in the middle-overs. The Protea's batter has 631 runs in 12 innings at an average of 57.36 and a strike rate of 154.28.
SRH vs RCB betting odds
- Sunrisers Hyderabad odds: 2.30
- Royal Challengers Bangalore odds: 1.61
The odds are stacked highly in favor of Royal Challengers Bangalore.
This is due to their improvement in the performances of the middle-order and talented bowling attack. On the other hand, SRH have been rather quiet this season in both departments and are unlikely to pose any serious threat to RCB, and our IPL prediction is for du Plessis's team to get two points.
