Bangalore beats Hyderabad to go fourth; RCB’s playoff chances explained after win over SRH

RCB is currently fourth with 14 points, after its win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday.

Virat Kohli plays a shot against SRH. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL/The Hindu

Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets on Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. 

Skipper Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli laid the platform for the win with a 172-run partnership.

The win helped RCB to 14 points, and above Mumbai Indians into the final playoff spot.

Here is the updated points table after the SRH vs RCB match last night:

Position	Teams	Matches	Won	Lost	Points	NRR
1	Gujarat Titans	13	9	4	18	+0.835
2	Chennai Super Kings	13	7	5	15	+0.381
3	Lucknow Super Giants	13	7	5	15	+0.304
4	Royal Challengers Bangalore	13	7	6	14	+0.180
5	Mumbai Indians	13	7	6	14	-0.128
6	Rajasthan Royals	13	6	7	12	+0.140
7	Kolkata Knight Riders	13	6	7	12	-0.256
8	Punjab Kings	13	6	7	12	-0.308
9	Delhi Capitals	13	5	8	10	-0.572
10	Sunrisers Hyderabad	13	4	9	8	-0.558

Faf du Plessis’ men are up against Gujarat Titans in their last league game and a win against the table-topper would take it to 16 points.  But even then its progression is not assured, as it would then have to hope either one of MI, LSG, or CSK fumbles in their last league game or that it finishes with a better net run rate (NRR) than the Mumbai outfit.

If RCB falls short against GT, its qualification will hinge on SRH, which will be MI’s final opponent in the league stage. If MI wins that game, it will qualify for the playoffs, knocking out every other team on 12 points currently.

But if SRH wins that game, there could possibly be a four-way tie on 14 points, where NRR will once again come into play. Of the five teams that could potentially end up in this tie, only RCB and the Rajasthan Royals have a positive NRR.