Three balls and three times Rashid Khan beats AB de Villiers’ outside edge. The Afghan leg-spinner shows his class in this battle between the superstars.

After 7 overs, RCB are 38/2 (Philippe 20, ABD 4)
DROPPED! Oh dear, what have you done Shahbaz Nadeem! AB de Villiers hits it straight back but the left-arm spinner can’t hold on to the catch. That could prove to be costly for SRH.

After 6 overs, RCB are /302 (Philippe 14, ABD 2)
Fantastic bowling from T Natarajan, the left-arm pacer concedes just a single in his first over. What a powerplay this has been for SRH! And they still have Rashid’s four overs to come. For RCB, a LOT depends on AB de Villiers now.

After 4.4 overs, RCB are 28/2 – Kohli is gone!
OUT! Massive breakthrough for SRH as Sandeep Sharma picks the wicket of Virat Kohli for the seventh time in the IPL. The RCB skipper struck it hard but Kane Williamson took a sharp catch at cover. Kohli departs for 7 off 7 as AB de Villiers walks out to bat.

After 4 overs, RCB are 24/1 (Philippe 13, Kohli 4)
Philippe picks up his second four, just had to lift it over mid-off and the ball raced away. SRH have done well so far in the powerplay.

After 2.5 overs, RCB are 13/1 – Padikkal is gone!
OUT! Sandeep Sharma strikes in his second over and it’s the important wicket of the in-form Devdutt Padikkal. The left-hander tried to whack it on the leg side but missed it completely to get clean bowled. Padikkal departs for 5 off 8 as Virat Kohli strides out to the crease.

After 2 overs, RCB are 8/0 (Philippe 3, Padikkal 5)
What a shot from Padikkal to give RCB their first boundary! The left-hander stands tall and drives it off the back foot past mid-off for four. Five runs come from Holder’s first over.

After 1 over, RCB are 3/0 (Philippe 2, Padikkal 1)
Steady start from Sandeep Sharma, gets some sharp in-swing to the right-hander. Three singles come from the first over.

7.30 pm: We’re ready for live action from Sharjah! Josh Philippe and Devdutt Padikkal are opening the batting for RCB. Sandeep Sharma has the new ball in hand for SRH. Here we go!

7.09 pm: Playing XIs
SRH: David Warner (c), Wriddhiman Saha (w), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan.
RCB: Josh Philippe, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (w), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal.

7.02 pm: TOSS – David Warner has won the toss and SRH will bowl first at Sharjah!

Head-to-head

MatRCB winsSRH winsRCB win%SRH win%
RCB vs SRH15784753

IPL 2020 points table: Mumbai Indians assured of top-two finish, DC’s run-rate takes further hit

6.40 pm: Hello and welcome to live coverage of match No 52 of Indian Premier League 2020. Tonight, Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad in Sharjah.

With a playoffs spot at stake, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to shrug off the disappointment of back-to-back defeats when they face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League at Sharjah on Saturday.

Virat Kohli and Co will have their work cut out as SRH will be confident after their crushing win over Delhi Capitals.

Going by the current standings, RCB are better-placed at number two and they need to win one of their remaining two games – against SRH or DC – 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.

SRH, on the other hand, are in do-or-die territory. Sitting on the sixth spot with 10 points from 12 games, the Hyderabad outfit need to win their remaining two matches – against RCB and MI – to reach 14 points to stay in the reckoning.

If that happens, SRH’s progress to the playoffs is all but assured 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 MI and CSK.