Overview:
We've come almost towards the end of the 16th edition of IPL. We've seen some exceptional cricket being played till now. Three teams have already qualified for the playoffs. Gujarat Titans have already qualified for playoffs. They would be up against RCB, the home side, who are still in the contention for a playoff spot. It's a must win game for RCB and almost an irrelevant game for GT. It's the last league stage match of the season and one can expect a cracking game.
RCB have won 7 out of their 13 matches and GT have won 9 out of their 13 matches they've played so far in the tournament. RCB would be desperately looking forward to winning their last game at any cost. They would want their lower middle order batters to step up big time. Gujarat Titans look like a more balanced side definitely. They have almost all the bases covered. That promises to be an exciting game of cricket for the fans.
Preview:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: After having a decent first half, RCB had a slight blip. They had managed to win only one game out of their last 4 games in the second half. But they've now won their last 2 games and given themselves a chance. Their top order batting has been great till now. The top 3 of Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell look very good. But that's that. Their middle order simply isn't scoring runs consistently for them. The likes of Mahipal Lomror, Kedar Jadhav, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik and others have to fire with the bat regularly.
Add to their batting woes, they've found some bowling woes too. In the last few games, their bowling has been good. But except Siraj, others aren't that reliable. Since the finishers don't finish on a high, RCB lose momentum towards the end of their batting innings. A slight onslaught from the opposition, and the bowlers lose their morale. So they need the batting unit to post a big total. Bracewell has been good in the last couple of matches. Parnell needs to play a big role for them. Harshal has to step up too.
Gujarat Titans: They've been the best team of the tournament till now undoubtedly. They've hardly any weakness. The opening pair of Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha is very good. Their only concern is middle order. Hardik Pandya isn't playing in his natural position. They need a bit more from Sai Sudarshan. All the others have done a pretty good job as batters. David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia have all been really good.
Their bowling is fantastic too. Mohammed Shami has been sensational with the new ball. He's well supported by Hardik Pandya. In the middle overs, they have the ever reliable Rashid Khan and an impressive Mohit Sharma. Noor Ahmad has been really good too. They can use Alzarri Joseph and Josh Little whenever required. Mohit Sharma has been good at the death too. Overall, their bowling attack is one of the best in the entire season.
Probable Playing XIs:
Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Faf Du Plessis (C), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Michael Bracewell, Anuj Rawat (WK), Dinesh Karthik/Suyash Prabhudesai, Karn Sharma/Vijaykumar Vyshak, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Mohammed Siraj
Gujarat Titans:
Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudarshan, Hardik Pandya (C), Vijay Shankar/Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmed ,Mohit Sharma
Interesting Facts:
- Head to Head: Both the teams have faced each other only twice in the IPL. Both the teams have won and lost a game each.
- Faf Du Plessis is five sixes away from completing 150 sixes in IPL.
- Shubman Gill is 24 runs away from completing 2500 runs in IPL.
- Vijay Shankar is 35 runs away from completing 1000 runs in IPL.
- With 702 runs in 13 innings, Faf Du Plessis is currently the orange cap holder of the season. He also has the most fifties for a batter in the ongoing season (8).
- Faf Du Plessis has hit 36 sixes, the most for any batter this season.
- For a batter with a minimum of 6 innings, Rashid Khan has the highest batting SR in the ongoing season (237.50).
- With 23 wickets each, Mohammed Shami and Rashid Khan have the most wickets in the ongoing season till now (23).
Pitch/Weather Report:
The match will be played at M Chinnaswamy stadium, Bengaluru. In the ongoing season till now, it has been a good batting surface. But with heavy rains in the city over the last few days, one can expect the rain to cause interruption. Due to the short boundaries, batters would fancy scoring big here.
Since it's a night game, the wicket would most likely be good for batting throughout. During the second innings, the batting would be a bit easier. So, the team winning the toss would like to bowl first and chase down the target. One can expect a high scoring game from the venue.
Venue: Sri M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Date and Time: 21st May 2023, Sunday, 7:30 PM (IST).
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Jio Cinema.
Dream 11 team:
