IPL 2018, RCB vs SRH: AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali hit fifties

The left and right hand combination of AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali gave Royal Challengers Bangalore the impetus to put on a big score on the board in their crucial Indian Premier League 2018 contest against Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Thursday. (RCB vs SRH HIGHLIGHTS)

De Villiers first brought up his half-century off 32 deliveries to give the home team a major boost. This was his fifth half-century in this edition of the IPL and 27th overall. Incidentally, this is also his 250th Twenty20. (RCB vs SRH SCORECARD)

Soon, Ali also got to his half-century with a lovely boundary, his maiden in the cash-rich T20 extravaganza. The England all-rounder was faster, bringing up the 50-run mark in only 25 deliveries.

The partnership between the two overseas players was important for RCB after they lost both their openers Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli early.

This is a must win game for Royal Challengers Bangalore, who languish in seventh position in the points table.

Sunrisers Hyderabad, on the other hand, have already qualified for the playoffs and have also assured themselves of a Qualifier 1 spot.

SRH have a 7-4 advantage over RCB in overall matches, having also won the last four games between the two sides. They had trumped the Royal Challengers by five runs in their previous game ten days ago too.

However, RCB have a better record (3-2) against SRH at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which is hosting its last game of IPL 2018 tonight.