IPL 2025, Match 65: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad Match Preview

Though the race for the playoffs has ended, and it will now be time for the race for the top two spots, starting with the match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who will be playing for the first time this season at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on May 23. The game was initially scheduled to be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium but was shifted due to unfavourable weather conditions in Bengaluru city, which is on yellow alert, as per IMD.

Though the RCB franchise will be disappointed to not be playing their last home game at Chinnaswamy as planned, they will be pleased of their performances in the season thus far. The next quest for the Rajat Patidar-led side will be to ensure a top-two finish, which will give them an added advantage in the Playoffs, and the first goal in reaching there would be beating the Orange Army on Friday.

While RCB’s journey in the tournament will still go on regardless of the results in the last two games, the story of the Orange Army has come to an end. Pat Cummins-led SRH have already been eliminated from the tournament and are currently standing eighth on the points table, which does not even matter. However, they will be confident after their incredible win against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), where they chased down a 200+ total with ease and spoiled their chances of making it into the playoffs. They will be aiming to replicate a similar feat at Ekana as well.

Match Details

Pitch Report

The Ekana Stadium in Lucknow is normally a tough wicket to bat on, and there is normally some grip and turn for the spinners. However, the last few games have seen the conditions getting better for batting as the game progresses. It will be a big challenge for the team’s to decide whether to chase or defend on this wicket, depending the surface chosen to play this game on.

Head-to-Head record

Predicted Playing 11s

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)

Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal

Impact player: Suyash Sharma / Manoj Bhandage

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Kamindu Mendis, Aniket Verma, Harsh Dubey, Pat Cummins (c), Harshal Patel, Zeeshan Ansari, Eshan Malinga

Impact player: Rahul Chahar / Abhinav Manohar