The Royal Challengers Bengaluru suffered a 42-run defeat against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 23 in Lucknow after being asked to chase 232 runs.
After putting SRH to bat first, Ishan Kishan took them to the cleaners and scored 94*(48) to put the away side in pole position to win the game.
Romario Shephard picked up 2/14 for RCB while four others scalped a wicket each.
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However, after cruising in the run chase and being 173/2 and a win within their grasp, RCB capitulated and were bowled out for 189 as Pat Cummins and Eshan Malinga finished with figures of 3/28 and 2/37, respectively.
Check out how this match saw history repeating itself as RCB slips down to number three on the points table following an under-par performance against SRH.
READ MORE: How has RCB performed in the 200+ run chases?
Deja vu for RCB? SRH hurts their top-2 IPL chances again
This loss hurt RCB's chances of finishing in the top 2 as they went down to the third spot on the points table, due to a weaker net run rate compared to the Punjab Kings.
They previously lost their penultimate matches to the Sunrisers in 2020 and 2021, where they ended up finishing on fourth and third, when a top-2 place almost seemed destined.
READ MORE: How many runs did Virat Kohli score vs SRH?
This time in 2025, history repeated itself, and they are again down to number 3 after a heavy loss. But with one game left in the league stage, it remains to be seen whether RCB can still sneak through to second place.
Further, a fan on X (formerly Twitter) pointed out that in both the previous years, RCB also faced a team led by Rishabh Pant in the last match of the season when they bottled a top-2 finish.
Once again in 2025, RCB will face Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the final game, who will be led by none other than Pant.
IPL 2020: RCB bottled Top-2 by losing to SRH in their 2nd last league game
— Aditya Saha (@Adityakrsaha) May 23, 2025
IPL 2021: RCB bottled Top-2 by losing to SRH in their 2nd last league game
IPL 2025: RCB plays SRH in their 2nd last league game
Interestingly, RCB played all their last league game vs Rishabh's team pic.twitter.com/cm9Memd4j2