Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: For the first time, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) are ready to face off against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Ekana Stadium in the 65th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Also, this is the first time in this season that the Royal Challengers and Sunrisers will compete against each other.
As per the revised schedule, this match was supposed to be played at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Due to the yellow alert, the venue was shifted to Lucknow at the last minute, considering the poor weather conditions in South India.
RCB, having secured their berth in the playoffs, will aim to win their remaining two games in the league stages to conclude in the top two positions of the points table.
On the other side, SRH, the previous year’s runner-up, are already out of playoff contention and will hope to conclude the season on a high note by winning their upcoming two matches.
Let’s take a look at the head-to-head stats, weather forecast, pitch report, expected toss outcome, possible playing XI and impact player options to predict the winner of the forthcoming match.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2025 Match Details
| Match Number | 65 |
| Date and Day | May 23 (Friday) |
| Venue | Ekana Stadium, Lucknow |
| Seating Capacity | 32,000 |
| Timings (IST) | 07:30 pm |
RCB and SRH Performance in IPL 2025
| Information | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| Total Matches Played in IPL 2025 | 12 | 12 |
| Won | 8 | 4 |
| Lost | 3 | 7 |
| No Result | 1 | 1 |
| Matches Remaining in League Stages | 2 | 2 |
| Points | 18 | 9 |
| Net Run Rate (NRR) | +0.795 | -1.005 |
| Playoffs Status | Qualified | Eliminated |
Head-to-Head Records of RCB vs SRH in IPL (From 2013 to Current Edition)
SRH holds a slight domination over RCB, having won 13 out of 25 matches, and here are the head-to-head stats:
| Matches Played (RCB vs SRH) | 25 |
| Won | SRH: 13, and RCB: 11 |
| No Result | 1 |
| Highest Total | RCB: 262, and SRH: 287 (Both in the 30th match of IPL 2024) |
| Lowest Total | RCB: 68 (IPL 2022), and SRH: 125 (IPL 2022) |
| Winnings Batting First | RCB: 6, and SRH: 7 |
| Winnings Batting Second | RCB: 5, and SRH: 5 |
| Super Over Winnings | RCB: 0, and SRH: 1 |
Lucknow Weather Forecast: Latest Reports for RCB vs SRH IPL 2025 Match
The slight cloud cover at the Ekana guarantees fans a complete 20-over contest per inning, with no rainfall predicted during the upcoming match of RCB vs SRH:
- Temperature: 31 °C to 34 °C
- Wind Speed: 19 km/hr
- Humidity: 46%
- Dew Point: 20°
- Cloud Cover: 9%
- Rainfall Chances: 2%
Ekana Stadium Pitch Report for RCB vs SRH IPL 2025 Match
Although the Ekana stadium pitches have offered good batting conditions, spinners are assisted in the middle overs due to the highly dry surface. So, the only strategy batters could implement is to make use of the new ball and try to accumulate as many runs as possible in the powerplay overs.
As the chasing teams have won 4 out of 5 matches in the ongoing season at this venue, the toss winning captain of the RCB vs SRH match would prefer bowling first.
Possible Playing XI and Impact Player Options for RCB vs SRH IPL 2025
The following predicted combination could make the playing XI stronger for RCB and SRH in the forthcoming match:
RCB Possible Starting XI Combination:
| S.No | Player | Role |
| 1. | Phil Salt (Overseas) | Batsman |
| 2. | Virat Kohli | Batsman |
| 3. | Jacob Bethell (Overseas) | All-rounder |
| 4. | Rajat Patidar (Captain) | Batsman |
| 5. | Jitesh Sharma | Wicketkeeper / Batsman |
| 6. | Tim David (Overseas) | Batsman |
| 7. | Mayank Agarwal | Batsman |
| 8. | Krunal Pandya | All-rounder |
| 9. | Yash Dayal | Bowler |
| 10. | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | Bowler |
| 11. | Suyash Sharma | Bowler |
RCB Impact Player Options vs SRH:
| S.No | Player | Role | Player Predicted to be Exchanged in Playing XI |
| 1. | Romario Shepherd (Overseas) | All-rounder | Mayank Agarwal (or vice-versa) |
| 2. | Liam Livingstone (Overseas) | All-rounder | |
| 3. | Blessing Muzarabani | Bowler | |
| 4. | Swastik Chikara | Batsman | |
| 5. | Abhinandan Singh | Bowler |
SRH Possible Starting XI Combination:
| S.No | Player | Role |
| 1. | Abhishek Sharma | All-rounder |
| 2. | Ishan Kishan | Wicketkeeper / Batsman |
| 3. | Nitish Kumar Reddy | All-rounder |
| 4. | Heinrich Klaasen (Overseas) | Wicketkeeper / Batsman |
| 5. | Aniket Verma | Batsman |
| 6. | Kamindu Mendis (Overseas) | All-rounder |
| 7. | Pat Cummins (Captain/ Overseas) | Bowler |
| 8. | Harshal Patel | Bowler |
| 9. | Harsh Dubey | All-rounder |
| 10. | Zeeshan Ansari | Bowler |
| 11. | Eshan Malinga (Overseas) | Bowler |
SRH Impact Player Options vs RCB:
| S.No | Player | Role | Player Predicted to be Exchanged in Playing XI |
| 1. | Mohammed Shami | Bowler | Zeeshan Ansari (or vice-versa) |
| 2. | Atharva Taide | Batsman | |
| 3. | Sachin Baby | Batsman | |
| 4. | Abhinav Manohar | Batsman | |
| 5. | Simarjeet Singh | Bowler |
IPL 2025 65th Match Winner Prediction: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad?
Despite Sunrisers Hyderabad dominating the head-to-head records, Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the favorites to win the upcoming match, given their unbeaten track record in away matches this season.
At the same time, the explosive batting line-up of SRH can give tough competition to the RCB bowlers.
In conclusion, the team that maintains proper consistency in terms of batting, bowling, and fielding is certain to win the upcoming match at Ekana.