RCB vs KKR: RCB up against confident KKR
Bowling has over the years been the Achilles heel of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He came back to bite them in the first match of IPL 2022 against the Punjab Kings where they failed to defend 205.
It will be tough for Vav de Plessis and his men when they take on the Kolkata Knight Riders at DY Patel Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday night. KKR kicked off its campaign with a convincing six-wicket victory over defending champion Chennai Super Kings.
The place was a great hunting ground for Kolkata who never lost a match there. Furthermore, they enter the competition with the psychological advantage of beating RCB in three games, including last season's playoffs. Although the RCB facelift was largely unused in the previous game, Hearts would win with a top-flight performance led by Captain Du Plessis, who began his campaign for his new franchise with 88 off 57 balls.
Add to that the form of Virat Kohli and the ability of young Anuj Rawat, and RCB is off to a good start. His middle system, anchored by Dinesh Karthik, has plenty of firepowers, including the dangerous David Wylie, Sheriff Rutherford, and Shahbaz Ahmed. With an explosive batting lineup, the main square you'll need to check past champions is bowling.
While they still miss the services of Josh Hazelwood, the quick attacks from Willy and Mohamed Siraj, who have forgotten the first start, will have to put their house in order. Siraj, who has failed on more than one count, has to put the night of terror behind him and start over. He gave RCB an extra 22, in which Siraj scored 10 runs.
And in an effort to throw the ball wide, the 28-year-old's streak and height dominated all over. Unlike the previous match, RCB should focus on bowling early with Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga. Using the Shahbaz spinner, which only throws one, can also help the RCB.
On the other hand, Kolkata ticked most of the boxes against CSK and the depth of their strike could be a worrying factor for the opponent. Starting with Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer, they have potential winners up to No. 8 hitter Sunil Naren.
Umesh Yadav will be their main weapon in the power game, and one area they will need to improve is their 47 death overruns in the last three times against CSK. Since the dew factor is important to a team's strategy, winning the lottery would be the obvious choice.
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