The equation is simple for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The job isn’t.

Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore have 14 points and just need to win Saturday’s game against Sunrisers Hyderabad to secure a playoffs berth. But that would not be easy.

First, Royal Challengers need to shrug off the disappointment of back-to-back defeats to return to winning ways. Second, Sunrisers would be more than desperate to pick up a win themselves as a defeat would probably mean the end of the road for them. Add to that the fact that they are coming off a thunderous 88-run win over Delhi Capitals and so will be oozing confidence.

Royal Challengers actually need to win one of their two remaining games to make the playoffs. Their last game is against Delhi Capitals.

And even if they lose both their matches and stay on 14 points, they can still qualify. But for that they need favourable results from other games.

David Warner’s Sunrisers, on the other hand, need to win their remaining two matches to reach 14 points to stay in the reckoning. Their last match is against Mumbai Indians.

Batting has been Royal Challengers’ strength with the likes of Virat Kohli, young opener Devdutt Padikkal and AB de Villiers doing the bulk of the scoring.

They will be challenged by Sunrisers’ ace spinner Rashid Khan and Sandeep Sharma, who has the knack of picking up crucial wickets.

On the bowling front, Royal Challengers have been hit hard by Navdeep Saini’s injury and his replacement, Dale Steyn, looked a pale shadow of his former fearsome self. He is likely to be replaced by Isuru Udana on Saturday.

Sunrisers’ batting looked powerful in their last match, with Warner and Wriddhiman Saha providing the fireworks upfront and Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson backing it up in the middle order. But Saha has a niggle and it needs to be seen if he is fit to play.

Today’s matches

Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians, Dubai (3.30pm IST)
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrises Hyderabad, Sharjah (7.30pm IST)