FANTASY
Follow UsKolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will look to get back to winning ways when they face off in match 30 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
KKR will look to recover from a heavy defeat against Delhi Capitals (DC) and improve its sixth position in the table. RCB, meanwhile, will look to move up the table from third after losing two of its last three games. From the 27 matches they faced off, KKR is slightly ahead with 14 matches with RCB winning 13 games.
IPL HEAD-TO-HEAD
Overall - 27 | Kolkata – 14 Wins | Bangalore – 13 Wins
Last five games – Kolkata – 1 Win | Bangalore – 4 Wins
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms, we have come up with one team.
Ground Details and Team Combination
In the four matches played in Ahmedabad this season, the teams batting first have scored less than 160 twice, which were chased down quite easily. However, Punjab and RCB have been able to score 170 or above batting first which shows that there are possibilities of a big score.
The pitch at Motera has often favoured pacers as they have claimed over 66 percent of the wickets in T20s since 2019, striking every 20 balls. However, spinners have a better economy of 7.2 compared to that of 8.1 for the pacers despite claiming 54 wickets in the past 16 T20s at the venue.
There could be some interesting matchups too.
AB de Villiers has been a consistent performer in the top order for RCB scoring 223 runs from 7 innings and has a superior strike rate of 164.3 and average of 51.75 than the team’s top scorer Glenn Maxwell. The South African’s clash with Andre Russell in T20s has been interesting over the years. De Villiers has been the clear winner in his battles against the big Jamaican as he has scored 134 runs from 53 balls across 8 innings with 82 percent of those runs coming off boundaries. Russell will look to claim the prized wicket of the Proteas’maestro for the first time.
KKR have struggled to get going in the season and its skipper Eoin Morgan is no different. He has scored just 92 runs from seven innings and has a dot-ball percentage of 41. He has clearly struggled against spinners, being dismissed for a duck twice this season. RCB leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal might have been going through a lean patch but his record against Morgan has been impeccable. The Indian spinner has conceded just 50 runs from 58 balls across 11 T20 innings against Morgan with a dot-ball percentage of 41.
Captain selection
Pat Cummins has not been at his best in the PowerPlay or the middle overs this season but has bowled really well at the death claiming a wicket every 9 balls. With the Ahmedabad pitch favouring pacers in the past 16 T20s, Cummins could find form against RCB.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Cummins could pick up 2-3 wickets in this match.
X-Factors
AB de Villiers has been the anchor of RCB this season, batting at No. 4 and laying the foundation through the middle overs and accelerating at the death. He possesses a strike rate of 245 in the final five overs this season and has scored at run-a-ball pace in the middle overs.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts De Villiers could score 18-28 runs in this match.
Harshal Patel is the leading bowler this season with 17 wickets from seven matches and has been a threat with his pace and variations. He has been excellent in the final five overs where he has picked up 11 wickets at a strike rate of 8.2.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Patel could pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.
Rahul Tripathi: Despite being unable to play big innings, Rahul Tripathi takes very little time to settle down before eyeing the boundary. He has a boundary percentage of 76.19 in the PowerPlay and a dot-ball percentage of 32.25 in the middle overs.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Tripathi could score 24-36 runs in this match.