RCB v DC: IPL MATCH 27 PREVIEW

After a memorable win against MI in the opening encounter DC lost 2 back to back games and emerged victorious against KKR in their last encounter by posting the season's 2nd highest total. DC have been strenghthened by the addition of Warner and Nortje but the latter had an outing to forget in the game against Lucknow. Nortje was DC's most impactful bowler in 2020 and 2021 with 34 wkts at an economy of 7.7 and dot % of 44. DC haven't got their middle order combination right so far and have many problems ranging from Pant's SR since 2020 (121) and absence of Mrash. Mitchell Marsh's inclusion at 3 will give them a lot of stability. He has been in a stellar form in the past one year and was supposed to bat at 3 for DC. In the past 1 year, Marsh scored 627 runs for Australia and was the team’s leading batter in West Indies and Bangladesh. He starred in the T20 World Cup final by scoring 77 and won the MoM award for his performance. He played 8 games in this year’s Big Bash League and scored 357 runs at a SR of 142 which included 1 century and 2 half centuries. He was seen practicing in the nets and his availability is a big plus. Kuldeep and Khaleel have emerged as the unlikely stars so far for the Capitals, especially the former given his form in the past 2 seasons.

RCB's streak of 3 consecutive wins was halted by the defending champions Chennai Super Kings who registered their 1st win of the season. Harshal Patel's absence hurt RCB against CSK who has taken 6 wkts at an eco of 5.5. Another major problem for the men in red is Mohammad Siraj's form. His eco this season is 10.8 and has picked up just 3 wkts. He has gone wicket less in last 12/120 games. RCB's opening woes continue and they have not registered a score of 50 in the PP so far. Dinesh Karthik has been the biggest bright spot in the batting department so far. 32*(14), 14*(7), 44*(23, 7*(2), 34(14), these are his 5 outings so far which includes a masterclass while chasing against the Royals

Probable XI

Delhi Capitals

Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Sarfaraz Khan Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Anrich Nortje/Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep, Mohammad Siraj.

Venue

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

-Average 1st innings total: 166.4
-Average 1st innings total in 2022: 152
-Average 1st Innings winning score: 179.5

-Highest total: 235/1, made by Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians.
-Lowest Score:–67/10, made by Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians

-Teams batting 1st: Have won 41 out of 88 times
-Teams batting 2nd: Have won 47 out of 88 times

Teams batting 2nd have won the last 14 out of 18 T20 games at the Wankhede

Head to Head

Overall: RCB leads by 17-10
Batting 1st: RCB leads by 7-5
Batting 2nd: RCB leads by 10-5
Last 5 games: DC leads by 3-2

Match Ups

Pant v Siraj: 72/3 at 189 sr
Faf v Axar: 71/2 at 112 sr
Warner v Harshal: 70/0 at 189 sr
Kohli v Thakur: 62/1 at 172 sr
Karthik v Axar: 61/2 152 sr
Maxwell v Kuldeep: 56/2 at 151 sr
Pant v Maxwell: 11/2 at 91 sr

Form Update
(last 5 innings)

Key Players, Stats and Fantasy Picks

Captain:

Prithvi Shaw: What makes Shaw different from the current crop of openers? Since Shaw’s IPL debut in 2018, he has scored 1025 runs in the Powerplay at a whopping SR of 149.8. No one has scored more runs than him at a better SR. The next best on this list is Jos Butler with 780 runs at an SR of 149.1.

Faf du Plessis: He had a prolific last season with 633 runs and played a lion's share in CSK winning the final match. RCB would expect him to repeat his last season heroics at the top of the order and he started this season with a knock of 88. Faf now has recorded 4 consecutive low scores and its highly possible he puts up a show against DC. 1624 runs at a SR of 135 are his nos since 2019.

Glenn Maxwell: He was RCB's best batsman last year with 513 runs at a SR of 144.

Virat Kohli: Though he has been putting 400+ seasons, Kohli has been relatively quiet with the bat. His nos after powerplay and his record vs spin doesn't quite paint a good picture. But for a batter of his class, all it takes is one good innings. He scored 41 in the season opener & 48 v MI and missed out on a well deserved half century due to a controversial lbw call by the 3rd umpire.

Budget picks
(Fantasy rating - 8/8.5 points)

Kuldeep Yadav: He has scalped 10 wkts in 4 games so far

Wildcard

Axar Patel: He has been wicketless so far in 4 games and might just turn up against the RCB's batting line up of Faf, Kohli and DK who are slightly vulnerable against spin.

Prediction

RCB to win the game and Siraj will play a decisive role

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Fantasy XI