Clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers BangaloreImage Credit source: PTI

The league stage of IPL 2026 is just about to end and the playoff round will start soon. However, the four teams of the playoffs have not been decided yet because the struggle for the fourth place is still going on among many teams. But even before that it is going to be decided who will be in first and second place. It will be decided by the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) today i.e. on Friday, May 22.

The 67th match of this season will be played at Uppal Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday. Hyderabad and Bengaluru have already secured their place in the playoffs and now they face the challenge of making it to the top-2. Only one of the two teams will be able to take this place because on one spot Gujarat Titans Has written his name. Gujarat, captained by Shubman Gill, sealed its place by defeating Chennai Super Kings by 89 runs.

Current situation of SRH and RCB

Now the question is, who among Bengaluru and Hyderabad will get the remaining place? At present the points table shows that in the first place is the current champion RCB, which has 18 points and the net run rate is 1.065. Whereas host SRH currently has 16 points and the run rate is 0.350. In such a situation, right now Bengaluru is ahead but with this match the situation can change completely and Hyderabad can get the first position. But how will this happen?

The first thing is that Sunrisers will have to win this match, which will give them 18 points. But it will not be a matter of winning only because all three teams will be tied on 18 points and in such a situation the decision will be taken on the basis of net run rate. Therefore, Hyderabad needs as big a victory as Gujarat achieved. The mathematics of net run rate shows that in case of batting first, Sunrisers should win by a margin of between 87 runs to 89 runs, so that they can leave behind RCB's net run rate. If SRH loses or wins by a small margin then Bengaluru will remain at first position.

How is the mathematics of net run rate for SRH?

Suppose SRH scores 180 runs then it will have to win by a margin of at least 87 runs. Even if the team scores 200 runs, the same difference is required so that it can overtake RCB. If 220 runs are scored then it will be possible to win by a margin of 88 runs. If SRH's batsmen take the team to 240 runs, then their bowlers will have to win by 89 runs.

Now if the team bowls first then it will have to achieve any target between 11 and 11.1 overs. Suppose SRH gets the target of 121 runs, 141 or 161 runs, then it will have to achieve it in 11.1 overs. Whereas if the target is 181 then it will have to be won in 11 overs. If the target is even higher than this then they will have to win in less than 11 overs.

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