FANTASY PREVIEW
Follow UsIn what is set to be a huge encounter in the context of top four, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore will lock horns at the Wankhede on Sunday on what could be described as a four-pointer. SRH and RCB are placed sixth and fourth on the table respectively, and both sides will go a long way in edging closer to the playoffs by registering a win on Sunday, with fourth spot there for the taking. Sunday’s clash will be the two sides’ second meeting of the season. The first one was an one-sided affair, with the Royal Challengers infamously getting bowled out for 68, the lowest total of IPL 2022.
Ground Details
The SRH vs RCB clash will be held at the Wankhede, which has been a pretty high scoring venue this season. The average first innings score at the venue has been 172, but on Saturday, the Rajasthan vs Punjab encounter witnessed an aggregate of 379 runs being scored. Winning the toss and batting first, the Punjab Kings managed to get to 189, but the total was eventually rather convincingly chased down by Rajasthan Royals, who registered a six-wicket win with two balls to spare.
In fact, Saturday’s fixture was the second high-scoring encounter at the Wankhede in the past week. On May 1, the clash between Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants witnessed Delhi fall short by six runs in pursuit of the 195 posted by the Super Giants.
Thus given the last two day games at the Wankhede have witnessed first-batting sides post totals of 195 and 189 respectively, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see SRH and RCB find themselves in the midst of a run-fest on Sunday.
What’s interesting to be noted also is that, of late, the Wankhede has seen the chasing side come out on top more often than not. In the last five games at the venue, only once has the team batting first successfully managed to defend the total it posted. On Saturday, too, the day-game at Wankhede was won by the chasing side. This could, hence, tempt the skipper winning the toss to chase on Sunday.
Suggested Team
Suggested captain
At the auction, SRH broke the bank for Pooran, and across the last two matches the southpaw showed why they chose to do so. Sunrisers might have ended up on the losing side against both Chennai and Delhi, but in both games Pooran absolutely mauled the bowlers. Against CSK his 64* came off just 33 balls, then he replicated it once again in SRH’s last game against DC, scoring a 34-ball 62. Pooran should not just be the captain of West Indies’ white-ball teams, but the skipper of your fantasy side too.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Pooran to score 32-48 runs vs RCB
X-factors
After an astonishing start to the season, Dinesh Karthik had a slightly concerning dip in the middle. However, in RCB’s last game against CSK, the veteran was back to his best again and struck an unbeaten 26 that ultimately proved pivotal. Spin is what DK struggles against, but against an SRH line-up that’s all about pace, the wicket-keeper batsman should certainly fancy his chances of playing a significantly impactful knock.
Not just Pooran, Aiden Markram has been in terrific form for SRH this season too. With 305 runs he is the second-highest run-getter in the season for the Sunrisers, and he’s managed to cross 40 in three of his last four knocks for the side. Along with Pooran, he was one of the batters who put up a fight against the Capitals, scoring a quickfire 42. Expect the South African to continue to pile on the runs against RCB.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Markram to score between 26-40 runs vs RCB
Harshal Patel, this time around, has not caught the headlines like he did last season, but the right-armer has quietly been having an excellent season. With 13 wickets he is the second-highest wicket-taker for RCB in the season, and his economy of 7.78 is excellent when you consider that he predominantly bowls in the second half of the game. He was at his absolute best in the last match against CSK, taking 3/35 as he grabbed the Man of the Match award en route bowling his side to victory. Harshal is, without a doubt, an x-factor that needs to be backed.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Harshal Patel to pick between 1-2 wickets against SRH
Here are the top picks as per Criclytics projections
Probable XIs
SRH: Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (c), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Shashank Singh, Sean Abbott, Shreyas Gopal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kartik Tyagi, Umran Malik
RCB: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
