RCB are set to begin a new part of their campaign as they are on the road for the next 5 games as LSG returns to their home ground after a dominant performance against PBKS where they ripped apart their bowling lineup to put up the second-highest score in the league’s history.
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Royal Challengers Bangalore
The Lucknow ground has been bowler friendly with its slow nature and spin-friendly conditions and this is both a boon and bane for RCB.
While their batsmen are fully using the power play by taking apart the pacers which is ideal on a ground of this sort, that seems to be the only positive from their batting lineup before this game. Kohli and Faf both slow down after the powerplay and this will be a challenge against Bishnoi who has the ability to take key wickets and Krunal who can stop the run flow with ease. To add salt to the wound, Amit Mishra is also likely to start giving the RCB batsmen 12 overs of quality spin to face on a slow pitch.
Maxi will yet again have the most important role in this lineup with their spin vulnerability. Lomror seems to be in good touch and seems like the perfect option at 5 as mentioned in the previous article. He picks up the length of the ball and uses his power to get it out of the ground but this game will put his skill under test as this pitch will make power hitting hard with little bounce and pace on the ball. Shahbaz at 3 once again failed and RCB will want to move away and use Suyash at 3 who is perhaps more likely to play the role Rajat was supposed to play at 3. With the chances of Hazlewood coming back, the onus will be on DK and Shahbaz to give RCB a good finish.
This campaign has been disappointing with the finishing duo unable to give even decent finishes for the team often going under par even on favourable surfaces. DK will want to use his wide range of shots and will want to take more responsibility for getting them a strong finish.
The bowling department had some positives after pulling the game back against KKR after Roy’s early onslaught. Hasaranga’s versatility is being used with him bowling in the powerplay and in the death overs and RCB fans will be hoping this continues when Faf returns as captain. Vyshak seems to have understood how to bowl the middle overs while Harshal continues to improve in form despite the occasional slip-ups which he hopes will stop soon enough.
With Hazlewood back, RCB has a better option in the death but with the bowler returning after a long break only time will tell if he can give better returns to RCB than what Parnell and Willey gave.
With a run of games on slower surfaces, the team looks more settled and has fixed its bowling and batting positions barring the number 3 spot.
Lucknow Super Giants
LSG batsmen will be high on confidence after their performance against PBKS. Despite returning home to a slower wicket, a lot of their runs last game came with brute power and exquisite timing which is something which will get you runs on any surface. Mayers is set to start again and will keep QDK to warm the bench after his fine show while Badoni got a good score after being promoted to number 3.
With their batting order who can pack a punch, the batsmen will look to score high to win their next fixture. LSG will look to rotate and move Deepak Hooda to a more effective position as his role as a finisher doesn’t seem too promising. They would also want Pooran to face more balls and get himself set for the onslaught later. With some right-handers in the middle, RCB might use the bowling options of Shahbaz and Lomror who are the easiest pick of the bowlers. With Mayers scoring well in the powerplay, the middle order will want to attack Hasaranga who has been RCB’s main wicket-taker to offset RCB’s bowling lineup.
The bowling lineup has a good addition in Naveen Ul Haq who has been impressive so far. He was the pick of their bowlers in their last home game against GT where he was economical and picked up a wicket. With the LSG batting having a very high ceiling and RCB’s depth in batting, their bowlers in Krunal and Naveen will look to keep things tight and maintain a good economy. Both of them are likely to bowl in the powerplay to the likes of Virat and Faf who have been taking down powerplay bowling to make up for their eventual slowdown in strike rate. Amit Mishra has shown his experience and will look to take some wickets in the middle overs. His matchup against Maxwell will be interesting he will have his eye out for the leg spinners with Krunal also bowling from one end.
Key Matchups
Krunal Pandya vs Mohammed Siraj: Runs-17, Balls-21, Dismissals-2
Krunal Pandya vs Glenn Maxwell: Runs-14, Balls-17, Dismissals-2
Kyle Mayers vs Wayne Parnell: Runs-1, Balls-5, Dismissals-2
Deepak Hooda vs Karan Sharma: Runs-10, Balls-9, Dismissals-2
Marcus Stoinis vs Karan Sharma: Runs-35, Balls-15, Dismissals-1
Marcus Stoinis vs Harshal Patel: Runs-26, Balls-16, Dismissals-2
Glenn Maxwell vs Amit Mishra: Runs-80, Balls-40, Dismissals-5
Glenn Maxwell vs Krunal Pandya: Runs-42, Balls-35, Dismissals-3
Virat Kohli vs Avesh Khan: Runs-23, Balls-21, Dismissals-2
Faf du Plessis vs Naveen ul Haq: Runs-22, Balls-15, Dismissals-2
LSG vs RCB Dream11 Team
Note: This is not our final Dream11 Team as we are not aware of the Toss Result/Final Playing XI of both teams at this moment.
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