Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their penultimate league match of IPL 2023 tonight (May 18) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
SRH are already out of contention for a playoff spot, while RCB has to win this match to strengthen their chances of advancing in the tournament. The Royal Challengers are currently fifth in the points table, with 12 points from 12 games, and having a net run rate of +0.166.
Defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) are the only team to have qualified for the playoffs so far, and they have also ensured a top-two finish in the points table.
Teams like CSK, LSG, MI, RR, and KKR will be rooting for SRH's win against RCB tonight for their own benefit. Fans took the opportunity to create some hilarious memes ahead of the crucial match between the Hyderabad and Bangalore franchises.
Here are some of the best memes:
RCB captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and opted to field first in the contest. He mentioned noticing dew on the outfield over the past couple of days during practice, which prompted them to choose chasing in the must-win game.
The Bangalore side went in with an unchanged playing combination from the previous game. Speaking after the toss, Du Plessis said:
"We'll bowl first. The last two nights, there has been a bit of dew at practice. Looks like a good surface, could be on the slower side. Could get better as the game goes on. Same team. [Hasaranga] A bit of niggle in the knee.
"We tried to give an injection but that didn't really work. So, we've got Bracewell, who gives us a bit more batting. You have to start fresh. If you can't rely on the previous game. Cricket has a funny habit of coming back and biting you if you do that."
RCB playing XI:
Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat(w), Shahbaz Ahmed, Michael Bracewell, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj
Impact subs: Dinesh Karthik, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Himanshu Sharma, Suyash Prabhudessai, Kedar Jadhav
SRH playing XI:
Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Kartik Tyagi, Mayank Dagar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nitish Reddy
Impact subs: Mayank Markande, T Natarajan, Vivrant Sharma, Sanvir Singh, Akeal Hosein
