The 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season is quickly drawing to a close, but there's still one week of action left before the postseason run begins.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad are set to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore this Thursday 18th May, 2023 at 19:30 IST at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, India. This match will be Hyderabad's final home game of the year, with the first round of the IPL playoffs beginning just next week.
Although the Sunrisers are already eliminated from playoff contention, Bangalore still have a shot at making it into the postseason bracket, making this an all-important game for the Royal Challengers. But before we get into our predictions, here's the playoff situation for Bangalore...
Bangalore's Playoff Picture
The shocking win of the Royal Challengers over the Rajasthan Royals has launched them to the fifth position in the standings, while also improving their Net Run Rate (NRR) from -0.345 to 0.166.
Now, the middle section of the table (where teams might finish with 16 points) could become quite congested. Nonetheless, the Royal Challengers have firmly secured their place in the mix, particularly since their Net Run Rate is now ahead of the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, two other teams in contention for 16 points.
Nevertheless, if the Royal Challengers were to lose one of their remaining two matches and remain on 14 points, they'd have to rely on multiple outcomes going their way for them to secure a spot in the playoffs. If they remain on 14 points, their NRR could be the deciding factor in making the postseason
Team Records
Win/Loss records certainly have more to them than meets the eye, but they can sometimes be a useful indicator for predicting future matches based on a team's current form.
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
| L | W | W | L | W | W | L | L | W | L |
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
| W | L | L | W | L | L | W | W | L | W |
Moneyline Prediction: Royal Challengers Bangalore (-138)
Our match prediction relies on various factors, taking into account game scenario, team form and individual talent. But before we get into it, here's how the sportsbooks view the matchup:
Moneyline Odds:
Hyderabad: +130 (DraftKings)
Bangalore: -138 (Fanduel)
Team Previews:
Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered a loss against Gujarat Titans on Monday, which dashed their already slim chances of reaching the playoffs. Now, their main goal is to avoid finishing last in the tournament as they have two more games left to play. The team has experienced three defeats in their last four matches, and this has likely lowered their spirits. Since they can no longer secure a place in the top four, the players may struggle to find motivation for the upcoming game.
Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore gave their campaign a significant boost by defeating Rajasthan Royals with a massive 112-run victory. This win greatly improved their NRR, which could be crucial for their chances of qualifying for the play-offs, so long as they don't diminish the stat by the end of the regular season.
In the match held in Jaipur, Royal Challengers Bangalore batted first and scored 171 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. They then bowled exceptionally well, dismissing Rajasthan Royals for a meagre total of 59 runs. Wayne Parnell was particularly impressive, taking three wickets for just ten runs, but every bowler from Royal Challengers Bangalore contributed by taking at least one wicket.
RCB's big win against the Rajasthan Royals was a great confidence boost for them. It showed they are a strong team and sent a message to the other teams in the league. Their bowling was on point, and if they perform the same way in the next game, it will be tough for Sunrisers Hyderabad to stop them. RCB has experienced leaders, so they won't get complacent. They are likely to win their seventh game of the season against SRH, who are already out of the running.
Prediction:
So, taking all of this into account, we're going with RCB at (-138) to take the victory on Thursday night.
Check out the full moneyline odds comparison here.
Prop Bets:
IPL betting markets offer much more than just moneyline odds, with countless prop bets available.
Here are a few of our favourite prop bets for this Thursday's matchup.
Top Royal Challengers Runscorer: Virat Kohli (+230)
Virat Kohli isn't just in incredible form this season, but has cemented his name as a legendary IPL batsman with consistent top-tier performances throughout his entire career.
He is the top run scorer in league history and has the highest number of runs as a captain. Kohli's average score as a captain is 43.88, which is the second best after David Warner (49.01) among players who have scored more than 1,000 runs as a captain. This is much better than his average score in the IPL (26.96) before he joined the Royal Challengers.
Kohli could easily land the top runscorer stat in this match against SRH.
Player of the Match: Faf du Plessis (+700)
As the tied-favourite to take the award, alongside Kohli, this one could go either way. But with his impressive performance last week against the Mumbai Indians, du Plessis is in fantastic form and could easily steal player of the match away from Kohli this Thursday night...
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a win against Mumbai Indians (MI) by 8 wickets on May 9th. In the 15th over, du Plessis hit three impressive sixes off Bishnoi, helping RCB reach a score of 137 for one. Despite starting a bit later, du Plessis reached his fifty with a fantastic shot over Woods' head. Expect him to make a big impact against SRH.
Full Lineups
Both of these teams have some of the biggest names in the IPL on their roster, who could have a huge impact on the outcome of the game. Here are the full squads we expect to see in the match
| Sunrisers Hyderabad Team Squad | Royal Challengers Bangalore Team Squad |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar Singh | Virat Kohli |
| Vivrant Sharma | Kedar Jadhav |
| Glenn Phillips | Harshal Patel |
| Anmolpreet Singh | Josh Hazlewood |
| Abhishek Sharma | David Willey |
| Kartik Tyagi | Mohammed Siraj |
| Marco Jansen | Finn Allen |
| Mayank Agarwal | Akash Deep |
| Akeal Hosein | Glenn Maxwell |
| Washington Sundar | Siddarth Kaul |
| Mayank Markande | Karn Sharma |
| T Natarajan | Michael Bracewell |
| Abdul Samad | Mahipal Lomror |
| Harry Brook | Anuj Rawat |
| Adil Rashid | Suyash Prabhudessai |
| Heinrich Klaasen | Vijaykumar Vyshak |
| Aiden Markram | Faf du Plessis |
| Rahul Tripathi | Dinesh Karthik |
| Mayank Dagar | Wayne Parnell |
| Fazalhaq Farooqi | Reece Topley |
| Umran Malik | Wanindu Hasaranga |
| Shahbaz Ahmed | |
| Rajat Patidar | |
| Sonu Yadav |
Do you think we made the right call? Or will Sunrisers Hyderabad pull out a surprise upset victory? Let us know on Twitter & Instagram.
