Royal Challengers Bangalore

Shubman Gill started off with a flick through square leg of Mohammed Siraj. In the next over, Venkatesh Iyer joined the party, pulling George Garton over backward square leg. Gill then tore into Garton in the third over with a hat-trick of boundaries. Harshal Patel, made the first strike for Bangalore as Gill was foxed by an off-cutter and holed to mid-on moving to his right.

"We have a lot of confidence on our team. If not the top two spot (on the points table), then we will have to win two more matches to reach the Final, and we are fully prepared for that. You prepare for all kinds of possibilities, and the way I see it, Qualifiers and Eliminators are just terms that exist to create more pressure for these matches," Kohli said.

With the two-time champions set to take on the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Sharjah Cricket Ground later on Monday, captain Morgan said that the mood in the camp was "quite confident" and "we are looking forward to the game immensely".

Apart from Patel's 3/33, Daniel Christian was instrumental with his 2/14. Hyderabad, who were 105/2 in 14 overs, could score only 36 runs in their next six overs, losing five wickets. Inserted into batting first, Hyderabad was off to a flying start with Abhishek Sharma hitting George Garton for a four and six in the second over. Sharma was dropped at deep backward square leg by Mohammed Siraj.

With this win, RCB, who now have 16 points, joined Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals in the playoffs. For the second consecutive season, the Virat Kohli-led RCB have made it to the last-four stage. It will now be a four-way battle between Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, and Rajasthan Royals for fourth place in the points table.

Chasing 150, Bangalore were off to a flying start as Virat Kohli slammed Chris Morris for three boundaries in the opening over. Devdutt Padikkal crunched Kartik Tyagi for two boundaries in the second over before slamming Mustafizur Rahman for a brace of boundaries in the next over. Bangalore were 48 for no loss in five overs before Padikkal, dropped at six, swung across the line, only for Rahman to disturb the stumps.

On Sunday, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the RCB top-order finally clicked with Kohli smashing a half century, followed by another classic T20 innings from Maxwell which helped the side reach a competitive 165/6 and then dismiss the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians for 111 runs in 18.1 overs.

"It's almost felt like we are continuing the tournament again. It doesn't feel like that we have had a long break because we have had enough cricket in between as well. It does not feel like a huge break. So, it's just about continuing with the momentum we had in the first phase of the season," said Padikkal in a video interview posted by the franchise on their Twitter account.

The patchy form of Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) Yuzvendra Chahal is not a big concern for their coach, Australia's Simon Katich, who said that the spinner's spot in the team was "not under the scanner" after the team's 34-run loss to Punjab Kings.

"Adam Zampa & Kane Richardson are returning to Australia for personal reasons and will be unavailable for the remainder of #IPL2021. Royal Challengers Bangalore management respects their decision and offers them complete support," said RCB in their tweet.