In the last few day, the playoff race in the IPL has gathered steam and yet things remain the same for the Royal Challengers Bangalore as they haven’t been able to come out of their must-win situation.

And at this point, their winning efforts might not be enough as net run rates are expected to decide the fate of the five teams that are running for the remaining two playoff spots. RCB’s net run rate is in the positive despite ending on the wrong end seven times in IPL 2018.

SRH have been guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. In fact, they are also assured of a top-two finish; hence, a defeat in this clash won’t trouble the Hyderabad camp. However, the men led by Kane Williamson would be raring a hit, especially after the defeat against Chennai Super Kings in the last game, which halted SRH’s six-match winning streak.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB have registered two back-to-back wins for the first time since 2016 and they are expected to field the same eleven from their last game. That means, Brendon McCullum and Washington Sundar would be sitting out for another game.

Predicted XI: Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Yusuf Pathan had missed the previous game through soreness and could be sidelined for another match. Wriddhiman Saha too has missed the last couple of matches due to injury, but he could return to the playing eleven tonight, in place of Shreevats Goswami.