IPL 2023 MATCH PREVIEW: RCB v SRH

The time has come for RCB fans to engage in their customary rituals, hoping for the best and backing unexpected allies in the pursuit of their team's aspirations. It's that time again when calculators come into play! This is the time of year that every RCB fan is accustomed to, eagerly praying and supporting any team that can aid RCB's chances, even if it means rallying behind their arch rivals CSK and MI. The equation this time is straightforward: RCB needs to win their last two games and hope for LSG or CSK to falter in order to secure a favorable outcome. Fortunately, RCB holds a superior Net Run Rate (NRR) compared to MI, so the result of MI's match has no impact on RCB's position, as long as RCB doesn't lose to SRH.

Following a "sweet win" over LSG, it seemed as though RCB's crusade had regained momentum. However, they experienced two consecutive decisive defeats at the hands of Delhi and MI, significantly compromising their net run rate.This has undoubtedly been RCB’s one of finest seasons with the ball if we exclude the brainfade in the middle overs of 2nd and 3rd game and the onslaught at Wankhede.

Defended 174 at Chinnaswamy
Defended 174 at Mohali
Defended 190 at Chinnaswamy
Defended 126 at Lucknow
Dismissed RR for 59

A left arm pacer with new ball and a leg spinner have been RCB's achilees heel this year. As a twitter user by the handle name @13Ranny_tweets pointed out, RCB have given 22 wkts to leg spin in 9 innings. 9 wkts in 6 innins at 126 SR ( 1st inns ) and 13 wkts in 3 inns at 106 SR ( 2nd inns ). They could very well field Adil Rashid today.

Despite being touted as the strongest side on paper, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) are on the verge of receiving the wooden spoon. The team boasted an explosive batting lineup and a formidable bowling attack that covered all bases, leaving talented players like Akeal Hossein, Kartik Tyagi and Glenn Philips on the bench due to the abundance of options. However, the much-hyped Harry Brook failed to live up to expectations, has managed just 63 runs apart from that 100 at Eden and Abhishek Sharma missing games didn’t help either. Adding to their woes, Mayank Agarwal has been a consistent disappointment, averaging a paltry 18 after playing over 90 innings, if we exclude the 2021 and 2022 seasons. The team's struggles suggest that paper strengths alone are not enough to guarantee success in the fiercely competitive world of IPL.
They have been tactically poor as well. For eg, against Lucknow by promoting Sundar ahead of Klassen and not naming Akeal Hossein in the subs. It was a tailor made pitch for the one of the best finger spinners in the world.
Just as Sundar seemed to regain his form, he unfortunately suffered a hamstring injury and had to withdraw from the tournament. Additionally, it seemed that Phillips, who was among the top batters in the T20 World Cup and has an impressive T20I strike rate of 144, was too valuable to be left on the bench. He made an immediate impact ny winning them a game against RR out of nowhere. Consequently, replacing the struggling Brooks with Phillips would have been an ideal decision, given that the latter excels in playing spin.

Another let down was the skipper Aiden Markram himself who managed to accumulate just 217 runs from 12 innings at a subpar SR of 120s.

Probable Playing XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Suyash Prabhudesai, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Mohammed Siraj, Vijaykumar Vyasakh

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Abhishek Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Marco Jansen, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Venue

Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

-Average Total batting 1st: 158.6
-Average 1st innings winning total: 169.8

-Highest total: 231/2 SRH v RCB, 2019
-Lowest total: 80 by DC v SRH, 2013

-Total Match Played: 70
-Batting First Won: 31
-Batting Second Won: 39

Head to Head

Overall: SRH lead by 12-9
Batting 1st: SRH lead by 6-5
Batting 2nd: SRH lead by 6-4
Last 5 matches: SRH lead by 3-2

Most Runs

David Warner- 647
Virat Kohli - 569

Most Wickets

Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 17
Yuzvendra Chahal - 17

Points Table

RCB: 5th
SRH: 10th

Team Form (last 5 games)

RCB: L W L L W

SRH: L W W L L

Match Ups ( IPL )

Kohli v Bhuvi: 75 off 62, 3 out
Kohli v Natarajan: 14 off 13, 1 out
DK v Bhuvi: 74 off 57, 1 out
Faf v Bhuvi: 70 off 58, 1 out

Tripathi v Siraj: 58 off 43, 2 out
Tripathi v Karn: 37 off 22, 1 out
DK v Natarjan; 34 off 20
Klassan v Sirak: 23 off 11, 1 out

Form Update ( last 5 innings )

Key Players

Glenn Philips:

He had an amazing outing in the t20 wc and was NZ's best batter. He is one of the cleanest strikers of the ball and the man "who can do it all" from fielding, keeping and bowling off spin. He won the MoM for his 25 runs against RR in his 2nd last appearance.

Heinrich Klassen:

There are no two ways about it; he has been SRH’s best batter this season with 300+ runs from 9 innings at a SR in excess of 170. He plays spin exceptionally well and is SRH’s best bet to counter the likes of Hasaranga.

Faf du Plessis / Virat Kohli

A top order batter should be your 1st priority in Fantasy 11. Faf has been in some surreal form off late with 177 runs at an SR of 143 in BBL and became the 1st centurion in SA 20. He scored 369 runs at an average of 41 (2nd highest). He is the orange cap holder with 631 runs at a SR of 154 with 34 sixes.

In contrast to the preceding few years, Virat Kohli ignited the IPL with his exceptional performance in the 1st half. His approach, intent, and boundary percentage had all improved to a remarkable extent compared to his previous three seasons. But his nos have dipped in the last few innings

Glenn Maxwell

Since 2021, Maxwell has scored 1100+ runs for RCB at a SR of 150+. No one scored more runs than him at a better rate and he did it by batting at 4 or below. He is also an effective off spinner who bowled a few economical overs in Powerplay. With Rajat not in the scene and DK not among runs in the recent past, the onus of carrying the middle order solely lies on him and he did not disappoint against LSG scoring 59 from 29 balls and straightaway took on the spinners in middle overs against Delhi, MI and against CSK. He has 30 sixes so far and a SR of 182 this season

Fantasy XI