SRH Smash 255, Still Miss Top-Two Spot As RCB Finish First

Sunrisers Hyderabad produced another explosive batting performance to defeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 55 runs in their final IPL league-stage match on Friday, but the emphatic victory was not enough to secure a top-two finish in the points table.

Riding on aggressive innings from Abhishek Sharma , Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen , SRH posted a massive 255/4 after being invited to bat. However, despite the heavy defeat, RCB comfortably crossed the qualification benchmark required to finish in the top two and ended their innings at 200/4.

With the result, RCB finished at the top of the standings with a superior net run rate of +0.783. Gujarat Titans secured second place with +0.695, while SRH had to settle for third despite all three teams finishing on 18 points each.

Chasing an improbable 256, RCB began positively with Venkatesh Iyer attacking the SRH bowlers from the outset. The left-hander smashed 44 off just 19 balls, but the early dismissals of Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal slowed the chase.

Once the required target looked out of reach, RCB shifted focus towards crossing 166 runs, which would guarantee them a top-two finish . Skipper Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya stitched together a crucial 84-run partnership to ensure the team achieved that objective comfortably.

Patidar played a captain’s knock of 56 off 39 deliveries, while Krunal remained unbeaten on 41 off 31 balls. The decisive moment came when Patidar smashed Pat Cummins for a six over deep point, taking RCB past the qualification mark and eventually helping them finish at the top of the table.

For SRH, Eshan Malinga impressed once again with disciplined bowling figures of 2/33 in four overs. Young pacer Sakib Hussain also bowled tightly during the middle overs and picked up one wicket.

Earlier, SRH’s innings was powered by yet another fearless start from Abhishek Sharma , who hammered 56 off only 22 balls, including a 20-ball half-century. He attacked experienced pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar from the beginning and never allowed the bowlers to settle.

Ishan Kishan anchored the innings brilliantly with a fluent 79 off 44 deliveries, combining innovative strokeplay with calculated aggression. Heinrich Klaasen then unleashed a brutal assault in the middle overs, smashing 51 off just 24 balls.

The South African batter particularly targeted Josh Hazlewood , collecting 27 runs in a single over as SRH crossed the 250-run mark with ease. Nitish Kumar Reddy provided the finishing touch with an unbeaten 29 off 12 deliveries.

In total, SRH smashed 20 fours and 16 sixes in another batting masterclass , but despite the dominant victory, they narrowly missed out on a top-two finish due to net run rate.