The clash of the best teams of IPL Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT) will face one more time in IPL but this time Bengaluru will host Gujarat Titans. Both of them are bottom of the points table and Gujarat have still a chance to qualify for the playoffs so this is a must-win match for Gujarat on the other hand Bengaluru who is in great form technically can qualify for playoffs but needs to win all remaining matches. The last time when they had met at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmadabad Will Jacks and Virat Kohli had solely finished the game, and Will Jacks had scored a century.
Round 2 of this clash will be more exciting and will be a thriller to watch, as we all know Chinnaswamy Stadium holds the record for most sixes so guaranteed it will be a blockbuster Saturday for every cricket fan.
Journey- Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Former Champions Gujarat Titans are facing a rough patch since they are yet to win a match they have lost consecutive matches and will try to bounce back. Skipper Shubman Gill should lead from the front and score runs, and spin wizard Rashid Khan should back his original line and lengths so that he can also come back in form. Noor Ahmed should also do the same. Sai Sudarshan continues its form and will keep scoring runs. Mohit Sharma should bowl well as he is conceding runs too much needs to see the line and lengths.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru who had lost a couple of matches started gaining momentum and have won back-to-back matches which is a positive sign. Virat Kohli has been in form since the start of the tournament now he has scored 500 runs including one century. Other players like skipper Faf Du Plessis need to generate runs and have control over the bat so that he too can score runs. Cameron Green needs to focus on his strong shots which he used to perform for Mumbai Indians. Bowlers need to be more focused as they are lacking behind and less contribution is seen from them. Siraj needs to gear up and Karn Sharma should be used wisely.
Stats
- Kohli loves playing against Gujarat Titans. In four innings, his lowest score against GT is 58 and he averages 151 against them
- GT’s Afghan spinners may be key against RCB skipper Faf du Plessis. He has got out to Rashid twice in 13 innings and twice to Noor in two innings
- Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan are the only batters in IPL 2024 to face 100 balls or more in the powerplay and strike lower than 140. This has resulted in GT being the slowest scorer in the power play this season.
Head-to-Head
RCB 2-2 GT. The Royal Challengers comprehensively chased down 200 with four overs to spare in last week’s reverse fixture in Ahmedabad. All four games between these sides have been won by the chasing team.
Match-ups
Mohammed Siraj has dismissed David Miller twice and conceded just 10 runs from the 14 balls bowled at the left-hander. They are likely to face off in the death overs, where the RCB man currently holds the edge over the destructive Titans finisher.
RCB are likely to continue using an all-Indian bowling attack and play both their overseas all-rounders. Vijaykumar Vyshak, who has bowled well on his home ground, could come in as the impact substitute and provide additional bowling cushion.
Spencer Johnson’s left-arm angle can be a useful proposition against a right-heavy RCB top-order. He can also be used to counter the back-in-form Rajat Patidar, who is striking spin at 225 compared to a measly 127.12 against the faster bowlers. The quicks have also dismissed Patidar six times in seven innings, with left-armers accounting for two of those dismissals.
Wriddhiman Saha had a long net session on the eve of the match but one possible tweak for GT could involve swapping out the veteran ‘keeper for Matthew Wade. If GT considers such a move, they could bench the overseas all-rounder Omarzai for Vijay Shankar, who had a great game here in 2023. Given GT are adequately stocked in the spin department, they could also look to swap their third spinner, Noor Ahmad, for Johnson in keeping with teams’ preferring for pace (31 wickets at 10.47 ER) over spin (11 wickets at 9.25 ER) at this venue.
Probable XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal [Impact Subs: Mahipal Lomror/Vijaykumar Vyshak]
Probable XI: Shubman Gill (c), Wriddhiman Saha/Matthew Wade (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Azmatullah Omarzai/Vijay Shankar, Shahrukh Khan, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R. Sai Kishore, Sandeep Warrier, Noor Ahmad/Spencer Johnson, Mohit Sharma [Impact Sub: Darshan Nalkande]
Pitch Report:
There was plenty of rain in Bengaluru on Friday afternoon, although it subsided in the evening. The forecast is the same for Saturday, so while it is expected to be cloudy, rain should not interrupt play.