RCB secure Qualifier 1 spot despite defeat; SRH finish third

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru took the top spot in the points table and set up a Qualifier 1 clash against Gujarat Titans, having done enough in their defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Heading into this game, the margins were fine for SRH to claim a top-two finish but they took it head-on and slammed 255. They still needed to restrict RCB to less than 166, which proved a tall order against one of the better batting sides of the season.

Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 255/4 [Ishan Kishan 79 (46), Abhishek Sharma 56 (22), Heinrich Klaasen 51 (24), Nitish Reddy 29* (12)] beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 200/4 in 20 overs [Venkatesh Iyer 44 (19), Rajat Patidar 56 (39), Krunal Pandya 41* (31); Eshan Malinga 2-33] by 55 runs

Abhishek Sharma on the rampage early
The SRH opener flew, aided by a flat surface and butter fingers in the field. Pat Cummins put the onus on his batters after choosing to bat first. Against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, they picked fours at will. Rasikh Salam removed Travis Head with a pinpoint yorker. Abhishek's six off Bhuvneshwar in the opening over was the only six of the Powerplay, but he laid into Suyash Sharma and Romario Shepherd in the seventh and eighth overs, taking two sixes each to reach a 20-ball half-century. Two of those sixes were boundary line catching opportunities that didn't come off for RCB. Rajat Patidar stuck with Suyash Sharma, and the leggie tossed up a googly to induce another miscue from Abhishek, caught by substitute fielder Jordan Cox at long on.

Klaasen humbles RCB's best
The South African started slowly until facing Hazlewood in the 13th over. Hazlewood began with an attempted yorker that Klaasen tonked, followed by an uncharacteristic slot ball launched into the midwicket stands. Hazlewood's wide yorker was met with a four behind point, and a full toss went for another six, capping a 27-run over — the most Hazlewood has conceded in T20s. Against Bhuvneshwar in the 15th over, Klaasen smashed one over extra cover to take his season tally past 600 runs.

Ishan Kishan flays the bowlers too
Alongside Klaasen, the No.3 batter went after the bowling — sixes off Suyash and Krunal Pandya early, then effective against Bhuvneshwar. He reached a half-century off 31 deliveries and batted through until the last ball. He picked up one six and two fours off Rasikh Dar at the death, finishing on 79 off 46. Though Nitish Reddy walked out throwing his hands around for a 13-ball 29*, only 17 runs came off the last 12 deliveries from Bhuvneshwar and Rasikh.

RCB's big-money signing found a rare opportunity at the top of the order with Jacob Bethell injured and Phil Salt still getting back up to speed. He made the most of it, setting the ball rolling with a 19-ball 44. He threw his hands around against Pat Cummins and laid into left-arm wrist spinner Shivang Kumar, smashing three sixes and a four in a 23-run over to bring up RCB's fifty in four overs. He perished when he mistimed a short ball from Eshan Malinga to Ishan Kishan at deep midwicket.

SRH commit to the cutter template
Sakib Hussain bowled six successive cutters in the sixth over, conceding just four singles and accounting for Virat Kohli, who hit a ball outside off-stump straight to cover. Harshal Patel came in as impact substitute and started by bowling cutters. Eshan Malinga took to it too, removing Devdutt Padikkal who found the deep square leg fielder.

SRH set a gargantuan target but all RCB needed for a top-two finish was 166. They played to those terms, rarely taking risks after reaching 100 at the halfway stage. Cummins attempted all his attacking options but couldn't pick wickets. To make matters worse, Cummins dropped a straightforward chance in the 16th over off Malinga. Off the SRH captain in the 17th over, RCB went past 166 to confirm their top-two spot and set up Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans. SRH's Harshal move yielded figures of 0-37.

Rajat Patidar gets a fifty, but falls to Travis Head!
The off-spinner sent the RCB captain packing with a rank long-hop in the 18th over. Krunal Pandya and Tim David took RCB to exactly 200, giving SRH a 55-run victory and a third-place finish.

RCB will head to Dharamsala for Q1 on May 26, with Gujarat Titans standing between them and a direct ticket to another final. SRH will travel to Mullanpur to play the team that finishes fourth in the Eliminator on May 27.