A Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) side led by Jitesh Sharma asked Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to bat first on a brand new Lucknow pitch. Jitesh said that they wanted to capitalize on initial surface moisture. Phil Salt was available and part of the XI, and regular skipper Rajat Paitdar fit only to bat and not fielding so included in substitutes list.
SRH also brought back Travis Head, who missed their last match because he was not well, Abhinav Manohar and Jaydev Unadkat. Mohammed Shami, also absent from the last match, was added to the list of substitutes so he could take SRH’s place when they are bowling.
This was an important match for RCB, who were already in the playoffs, but were competing for the top two finish, which gives them a margin of error in the playoffs. RCB were second on the table with 17 points, but were one game ahead of Gujarat Titans (GT), who were on 18 points. The third team in the running for a top-two position was Punjab Kings (PBKS), which tied with RCB on 17 points from 12 matches.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Nitish Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Pat Cummins (capt.), 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Eshan Malinga, 11 Jaydev Unadkat
Jitesh leads RCB and opts to bowl; Head back for SRH
Impact sub options: Mohammed Shami, Harsh Dubey, Sachin Baby, Zeeshan Ansari, Simarjeet Singh
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 1 Phil Salt, 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Jitesh Sharma (capt. & wk), 5 Romario Shepherd, 6 Tim David, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Yash Dayal, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Suyash Sharma
Impact sub options: Rajat Patidar, Rasikh Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh