In the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday, April 15, at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru for the fifth time in a row. Travis Head’s outstanding hundred (102 off 41) helped SRH, who were given the opportunity to bat first, record an enormous score of 287/3 in the allowed 20 overs.
With Dinesh Karthik top-scoring with 83 (35), RCB’s response was a meagre 262/7 in their 20 overs, despite their best efforts to chase down an enormous score. The result was a 25-run loss for the hosts, who continued to finish last in the points standings. The team captained by Faf du Plessis is currently struggling in tenth place, having only won once in six games and amassed two points.
After losing to Southern rivals Chennai Super Kings by six wickets to begin the season, the three-time runners-up pulled off an incredible comeback to defeat Punjab Kings by four wickets in their following match. The Bengaluru-based team, though, has since lost its next five games against the Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), Rajasthan Royals (RR), and SRH because of their inability to maintain their winning momentum.
Also read: IPL 2024: Match 30’s highlights from Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s second innings vs SRH
Even worse, RCB’s nett run rate—which is currently the lowest of the 10 clubs at -1.185—has suffered significantly as a result of their crushing losses to MI and KKR. RCB will need to perform a stunning comeback to make the playoffs with only one win in their previous seven games. With KKR, SRH, and Gujarat Titans (GT) in their next four games, the road ahead for RCB gets harder.
In this season, RCB cannot afford any more defeats.
The team captained by Faf du Plessis must win every game left to guarantee their spot in the playoffs because they cannot afford to lose any more in the current campaign. RCB will have 16 points at the end of the league stage if they win all of their remaining games, which will be sufficient to guarantee them a spot in the playoffs.
They will end up with 14 points on the points table if they manage to lose one more game, but that won’t be enough because they will need to significantly outperform other teams in terms of nett run rate. Therefore, starting with their upcoming match against KKR on Sunday, April 21 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, RCB cannot afford to make a mistake in the season as it may potentially ruin their chances of qualifying for the playoffs.
The seasoned batsman Virat Kohli will jog his colleagues’ memories of the 2016 campaign, when they advanced to the postseason by winning six of their final seven games.
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