Just like Gujarat Titans did a day earlier, Royal Challengers Bengaluru failed to capitalize on a chance to go atop the standings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad in what was an inconsequential match in Lucknow on Friday.
Gujarat Titans lost to Lucknow Super Giants and now now Punjab Kings have the next chance to take the top spot. Tied with Punjab Kings on 17 points behind Gujarat Titans (18 points), RCB had an opportunity to leapfrog them to the top by beating Sunrisers Hyderabad.
But a superb unbeaten 94 by Ishan Kishan and a fine bowling performance by skipper Pat Cummins (3-28) and Eshan Malinga (2-37) helped Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 42-run win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
But RCB's stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma, who was filling in for an injured Rajat Patidar who came in as an Impact Substitute, saw something good in the defeat.
Sometimes losing a game is a very good sign because you can check and analyze. The positive thing is that everyone's chipping in. After this loss, we've got a setback to check [things] again. We'll move forward.
After Abhishek Sharma (34 off 17) and Travis Head (17 off 10) gave them a whirlwind start by scoring fifty runs in 22 balls, Ishan Kishan struck 94 not out from 48 balls, laced with seven fours and five maximums helped them reach 231/5 in 20 overs. His time at the crease came to an end when a leading edge saw the ball balloon towards backward point for a simple catch by Bhuvneshwar.
Kishan on the other hand had no intentions of letting the fall of wickets at the other end halt the flow of runs and raised his half-century in 28 balls. Nitesh Kumar Reddy’s (4) lean run of form continued as the all-rounder was undone by Shepherd.
Chasing a stiff target, RCB were in the hunt till the final few overs. Phil Salt struck a 32-ball 62 while Virat Kohli hammered 43 from 22 balls. Their dismissal in quick succession did not deter RCB's chances as they eventually registered a 42-run victory.
I think it was 20-30 runs extra. They played very well. I didn't have any answers for their attack. We were rusty. The intensity was not there initially... In the death, we were bowling more accurately.
Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 231/6 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 94*, Abhishek Sharma 34, Aniket Verma 26; Romario Shepherd 2-14) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru 189 all out in 20 overs (Phil Salt 62, Virat Kohli 43; Pat Cummins 3-28, Eshan Malinga 2-37) by 42 runs.
