RCB vs SRH, 52nd Match at Sharjah, IPL, Oct 31 2020 - Match Result

That brings to an end another night of the Indian Unpredictable League. Now we are going all the way into the last match to identify the playoffs. The one thing we know from today: practically KXIP just need to beat CSK tomorrow to ensure qualification. Even if they win by just one run, RR will have to beat KKR by about 65 runs to upstage them. Stranger things have happened, but KXIP just need to win tomorrow without worrying too much about the NRR. But up against them are the biggest party poopers in town, CSK. And today's defeat leaves RCB needing to beat DC to secure a top-two slot. A defeat could possibly push them out of the tournament. Same for DC. Three big days coming up. Till then, take a break. Hydrate yourself. Don't be naughty. Don't go out playing in the dew. Over and out for now

Sandeep Sharma, Man of the Match: "When I started bowling, the wicket was sticky. My plan was to bowl wicket to wicket, and swing the ball. It was swinging nicely as it has got cooler over here. I have been bowling knuckle balls and getting big help from Jonny Bairstow, who is helping me add deliveries and how I can go about my business. Kohli is one of the greatest batsmen this sport has seen. To get him out is always sepcial. We are now finding our momentum. We are excited about the next game."

David Warner: "Coming here, needing to win against top teams, needing to win all to qualify. It is big. Losing Vijay is a big miss. For us, we worked out how to go about it. Right balance, right partnerships. All the credit today goes to the bowlers. The kind of wicket it is, it is slowing up quite a bit. The bowlers have to adapt. Can't just be yorkers, can't just be slowers. You have to hit the wicket. I was not surprised at all with the dew. When it is cooler here, it gets quite dewy. Jason is a very very good cricket ball. Someone of his height, if you are trying to bowl a bouncer to him, you have to dig it in quite short. And it will sit up for him in these pitches. Same do-or-die in the next game. Yeah we can still win the IPL. We had to win all three in 2016. We are winning these close ones. Of course we lost that close one the other night; don't even remind me of it."

"So Punjab will be practically qualified if they win tomorrow. Wow this season is amazing" Venky, you can't be sure of that. If SRH win their last game and if the RR-KKR game is one-sided, KXIP could still end up losing out on NRR. And the curel part of it for KXIP is that, they play before RR and KKR tomorrow

Virat Kohli: "It was never enough. We thought 140 might be a good total to get into the game, but things changed drastically, which we didn't predict. It is strange. We thought the weather became pleasant, and there won't be much dew. I thought we were not brave enough with the bat throughout the innings. To be fair to them, they bowled in the right areas and used the pitch. The situation is straightforward: win the last game and finish in the top two. It is going to be a cracker of a game with two teams locked at 14. I have always been a Bangalore boy when it comes to the IPL, and never drifted towards Delhi."

What a performance from SRH. read the conditions perfectly, chose to field, and executed their plans with their slower ones and their spinners exceptionally well. Then they broke the back of the chase inside the Powerplay even before RCB's best bowler, Chahal, could be used. And then a stumble in the middle gave nerves to the SRH fans, but Holder absolutely smashed it out of the park in the end. RCB lost a big toss, granted, but they didn't do themselves any favours. They bowled their best bowler after the target was half chased, and their fast bowlers just keep refusing to bowl slower balls and use the pitch. They did so against CSK, and they did it again tonight

SRH are alive and how. We are going into the last match now. Plus RCB's NRR has now dropped below KXIP's. Now they can't afford to lose against DC and leave their fate in someone else's hand

Which team is most assured of a win on Sunday? Tell us on our rolling report

Samad has joined Holder in the middle, but the big man is on strike. Chahal back

Another questionable bowling change. You have now lost the match even without bowling out your best bowler, who came on to bowl with half the target chased down in the first place

I'd hate to see a beamer from Saini now. He has got himself a bit of a reputation for bowling one when under fire

Saini continues to fight the conditions instead of bowling according to the conditions

Twenty-five required. Surely not again, SRH? They go back to Saini. He doesn't like the slower one

If I remember correctly, Bairstow left them 41 to get in their first match against RCB. They couldn't get it. It is 34 when Williamson gets out

Jason Holder. SRH will count on his international experience

Some relief for SRH as Chahal is taken off the attack. He has one over left. Here is Udana

Abhishek Sharma joins Williamson, who is on the strike for the moment. Udana has been taken off for Sundar