Match overview
Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 287/3 and beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 25 runs at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 15 April 2024. RCB gave a genuine account of themselves, reaching 262/7 in reply, but a collapse of 6 wickets for 108 runs in the middle overs ended any prospect of a successful chase. Travis Head was named Player of the Match after anchoring SRH's innings from the top. It was SRH's third win in five matches in the 2024 IPL; RCB fell to one win from five.
The margin of 25 runs flatters RCB slightly. Once six wickets tumbled between overs 7 and 15, the match was as good as settled. Their powerplay of 79 runs without loss had kept the chase alive, but losing a cluster of wickets in the phase where you most need to build partnerships proved too much to recover from.
RCB's decision to field after winning the toss followed standard Chinnaswamy logic: 76% of toss winners at this ground elect to bowl first. The ground's average first-innings score of 196 across 142 matches makes it a batting-friendly surface, but even accounting for that, SRH's 287 was an outlier.
Venue and conditions
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has produced 142 T20 matches and carries a well-earned reputation as one of cricket's most batter-friendly venues. The average first-innings score of 196 is high by IPL standards, and teams batting second average 177. Both figures were comfortably exceeded in this match.
The powerplay tends to be productive here: the average return across all matches is 43 runs. SRH's 76 was exceptional; even RCB's 79 in reply was nearly double the norm. Death overs average 40 runs at Chinnaswamy, but both sides exceeded that comfortably too, with SRH posting 82 in the final phase and RCB managing 75 while trying to accelerate. The ground's chase success rate of 55% is higher than many IPL venues, which makes the toss-and-field strategy intuitive. On this occasion the target simply proved too steep.
Dew in the evening session can assist batting sides chasing, which partly explains the structural advantage for the team batting second. Here, despite that potential factor, SRH's first-innings platform was too large.
How to watch
IPL fixtures are broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports Cricket. Matches typically start between 14:30 and 15:30 UK time for afternoon games and around 19:30 for evening fixtures, given the five-and-a-half-hour difference from Indian Standard Time. If you don't hold a full Sky subscription, a NOW TV day pass covers live streaming.
Highlights are available on the IPL's official YouTube channel and through the JioCinema platform, though the latter's UK geo-restrictions mean Sky and NOW remain the primary options for live coverage.
Recent form
Heading into this fixture, Sunrisers Hyderabad had won three and lost two of their first four 2024 IPL matches: victories against Punjab Kings, Chennai Super Kings, and Mumbai Indians, with losses to Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders. A mixed but positive record that gave them momentum at a venue where high-scoring matches tend to suit the more attacking batting units.
Royal Challengers Bangalore came into the match in poor form. They had lost four consecutive IPL games in 2024, against Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants, and Kolkata Knight Riders, with their only win coming against Punjab Kings. That run of results placed pressure on the side well before the first ball was bowled at Chinnaswamy, and the heavy defeat here did little to ease it.
