Match overview
Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on 25 April 2024. RCB, having won the toss and elected to bat, posted 206/7 across their 20 overs. SRH's reply never got going: four wickets fell inside the powerplay, and the home side finished on 171/8. Rajat Patidar was named Player of the Match for his contribution to RCB's total.
For RCB, this was a significant result in context. They had lost their previous five IPL matches in 2024, going down to Kolkata Knight Riders, SRH, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, and Lucknow Super Giants in succession. The win came at the ground where they had also beaten SRH by 8 wickets in 2023, suggesting the Hyderabad venue has been relatively kind to the Bangalore side when the pitch suits batting first.
SRH, by contrast, came in on the back of four consecutive wins, having beaten Delhi Capitals, RCB, Punjab Kings, and Chennai Super Kings. Their only recent loss had been to Gujarat Titans. The powerplay collapse in the chase, conceding those 4 wickets inside six overs, was out of character with their recent performances and proved the difference.
Venue and conditions
The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium has hosted 104 IPL matches. The average first-innings score stands at 192, with the average second-innings score at 179. Chasers succeed 54 per cent of the time here, making it a ground that does not strongly favour one side over the other, though conditions in April can shift that balance depending on the dew factor in the evening.
RCB's innings by phase tells a tidy story: 61 runs and 1 wicket in the powerplay, 81 runs and 3 wickets in the middle overs, and 64 runs and 3 wickets at the death. All three phases produced above the venue's historical averages, particularly the powerplay (the ground averages 43) and the death (the ground averages 40). SRH's response was the inverse: 62 runs in the powerplay but 4 wickets down, followed by steady but insufficient scoring in the middle and a death-overs phase that yielded only 39 runs.
Toss decisions here split reasonably evenly: teams elect to field 49 per cent of the time, suggesting no overwhelming bias in either direction. RCB's call to bat first, and the total they posted, validated the decision on the night.
How to watch
IPL matches are available in the UK on Sky Sports Cricket, with streaming options through Sky Go for existing subscribers or via a day pass on NOW TV. The 7:30 pm IST start time translates to approximately 3:00 pm BST, meaning most matches are accessible in the afternoon for UK viewers without clashing with the evening schedule.
For fans who missed the live broadcast, highlights and full replays are regularly made available through Sky's on-demand service. The IPL also maintains its own streaming platform, JioCinema, though geo-restrictions apply for UK audiences.
Recent form
RCB's form heading into this match made uncomfortable reading: five consecutive losses across April 2024, including a defeat to SRH by 25 runs at Chinnaswamy just days earlier. The batting unit had clearly not fired in those games the way it did here, where the 206/7 total represented a significant step up.
SRH had been among the stronger teams in IPL 2024 up to this point. Four wins from five is a solid run in a format this compressed. The loss here broke that sequence, and the powerplay collapse in the chase rather than a shortage of firepower in the middle order. Head-to-head across 26 meetings, SRH still lead 13 wins to 12, so the rivalry remains as close as any in the competition.
