RCB v RR: IPL MATCH 39 PREVIEW

Rajasthan Royals lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore in match no 39 of 2022 IPL at the MCA stadium.
68 all out, thats the 2nd lowest total for RCB in the IPL. The pace quartet of Bhuvi, Umran, Jansen, Natarajan and spinner Suchit dismantled them in the last game. The lower middle order had been bailing them out so far in this season and batting collapse of this order was just around the corner.

RCB's biggest concern is its top order and scoring rate in Powerplay. Anuj Rawat has scored 77 runs at a SR of 93, His partner Faf du plessis fares even worse with 81 runs at a SR of 82. Virat Kohli strikes at 104 having scored 25 runs. RCB have the 2nd worst scoring rate in the powerplay with 6.8 after SRH who score at 6.1. Another department where RCB have fared poorly is the the death bowling. Before the game against Lucknow, they had picked up only 5 wkts (least) and conceded runs at 13.2 (second worst). Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed in the batting department have been the only bright spots so far. DK is averaging 105 and his SR is over 200. He has been having a phenomenal season and has looked in zen mode right from ball 1. RCB should promote Kohli at the top and slot Mahipal Lomror at 3.

A powerpacked performance from Jos Buttler followed by a magical Yuzvendra Chahal sealed the game for RR in the match against KKR. Buttler repeated his performance and racked up another 100 against DC. Powerplay has been RR's biggest strength so far. Jos Buttler alone has hit 16 of the 19 sixes in the 1st six overs. Since 2018, he has the best SR in this period. Death Overs is singlehandedly taken care by Shimron Hetmyrer who has scored the most runs and sixes in this period from 2021. In 2022, he has scored 153 runs at a SR of 248. So far, RR's other woes in opening and end overs have been overshadowed because of the brilliance of these 2 individuals. Paddikal came good in the last match after a series of below par scores. Hasaranga v Samson is the battle to watch out for in today's game.

Probable XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Suyash Prabhudesai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj

Rajasthan Royals

Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Karun Nair, Ravi Ashwin, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna

Venue

MCA Stadium, Pune

-Average 1st innings total : 170.4
- Average 1st innings total in 2022: 176.7
-Average 1st innings winning total: 188.3

-Highest total: 211/4 - CSK vs DC
-Lowest total: 73 - PBKS vs RPSG
-Teams batting 1st: Have won 20 matches
-Teams batting 2nd: Have won 24 matches

RCB: Played 7, Won -5, Lost -2
RR: Played - 5, Won -3, Lost 2

Head to Head:

Overall: RCB leads by 13-10
Batting 1st: RR leads by 4-3
Batting 2nd: RCB leads by 10-6
Last 5 matches: RCB leads by 5-0

Match Ups

Maxwell v Chahal: 120/5 at 171 sr
Kohli vs Ashwin: 160/1 at 128 sr
Kohli vs Prasidh: 56/1 at 207 sr
Kohli vs Boult: 44/0 at 125 sr
DK vs Ashwin: 74/1 at 134 sr
DK vs Chahal: 33/3 at 82 sr
Faf vs Boult: 50/3 at 100 sr
Faf vs Ashwin: 37/1 at 112 sr

Samson v Hasaranga: 8/4 at 53 sr
Shimron vs Harshal: 34/0 at 136 sr
Samson vs Siraj: 20/2 at 133 sr
Riyan vs Harshal: 14/2 at 175 sr
Shimron vs Siraj: 34/1 at 154 sr

Form Update
(last 5 innings)

Key Players & Fanatsy Picks

Captain

Josh Hazlewood: RCB suffered massively in the initial games with their 4th pacer Akash deep going for plenty in every game and Siraj who was supposed to be the leader of the attack failed to make any mark in almost every game. Hazlewood's arrival has boosted their bowling department to a great extent. He has 8 wkts from 4 games, just behind Hasaranga.

Jos Buttler: Since 2018, Butler strikes at 150 in the Powerplay with 852 runs. Regarded as one of the most dangerous white ball batters in the world, he had a brilliant t20 wc where he scored a scintillating 100 against SL on a slow Sharjah Pitch and carried his form in the IPL where he scored another 100 in his 2nd game of the season, a 70 odd in the game vs RCB and a quickfire 50 in the powerplay against GT, and another 2 100s against KKR & DC. He is now the orange cap holder with 491 runs.

Yuzvendra Chahal: Purple cap holder with 18 wkts at an eco of 7.3. The spin duo of Ashwin & Chahal have been RR's biggest strength in the middle overs. Chahal has taken 12 wkts in the middle overs, just behind Kuldeep who has scalped 13 wkts. RR have been using him wisely by bowling his 2 overs after the 14th over. He bowled brilliantly in the 18th over of last 2 games.

Budget picks

Shahbaz Ahmed: He has been RCB's saviour with the bat. 178 runs at an avg of 44.5 and SR of 139 speaks volumes about his contributions lower down the order. RCB were 62/4 in 3 games, 42/3, 75/4 when he has walked out to bat.

Wild Card pick

Trent Boult: He has taken most wkts in PP since 2020. Could cause early problems for the opening pair of Delhi

Fanatsy XI