Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: A clash for the top spot
Match number 31 of the Indian Premier League will see Lucknow Super Giants locking horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Both teams are in the Top 4 in the points table with four wins and two losses each.
Dinesh Karthik : Good catch by RCBBoth teams will be looking for a tough fight to keep them in the top 4.
Royal Challengers Bangalore looks to be in promising form this season. Dinesh Karthik is at his career-best with the bat, never letting bowlers have an easy time when he's there. People have already started calling him Mr 360 for Bangalore after Ab de Villiers. The top order is yet to fire as it's mostly Dinesh Karthik and Glenn Maxwell in middle-order saving and winning matches for the team. Wanindu Hasaranga has been a crucial wicket-taker. Harshal Patel looked to struggle in the previous game as he conceded 40 runs to remain wicketless but will look to make a solid comeback in tonight's clash.
KL Rahul led Lucknow Super Giants, making strong statements about their class in each game. The team is yet to lose a match at Dr. DY Patil Stadium, while Bangalore has faced a defeat at the venue this season. KL Rahul, after remaining not out on 103, will look to continue his match-winning performance tonight. The top-order performance holds a crucial place in teams' wins.
Pitch Report
The pitch at Dr. DY Patil Stadium looks to support batters, as observed in the tournament so far. Pacers are likely to find help from the pitch.
Probable Playing XI
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
Stats to keep an eye on
- Glenn Maxwell has dismissed Rahul twice in four T20 innings while giving up just 20 runs off 18 balls.
- Avesh Khan has bagged five wickets each in the powerplay and death in IPL 2022. T Natarajan is the only other bowler with at least five wickets each in these two phases.
- Karthik's first-ten-balls strike rate of 214 is the best among batters, with a minimum of 75 runs this season.
The battle looks to be a cracking one like we witnessed between KKR and RR the previous night. It will be interesting to see who seals a win tonight.