Follow UsThis is the most interesting phase of the IPL. When every side is left with one or two games in the league stage. There are various permutations and combinations of what each team needs to do to qualify for the playoffs or secure a place in Qualifier 1. There are few teams who are playing to stay alive in the tournament.
Match 67 presents exactly the same scenario. It is the last league game for both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans. Gujarat are comfortable at the top of the table. They have secured a place in the top 2 which gives them two chances to get to the final. For them, this game is a formality.
However, for Bangalore, their whole campaign rests on this game. If they lose, they are on the brink of elimination. If they win, they are in the hunt but knock out Hyderabad and Punjab while keeping Delhi on their toes. It is a fixture that deserves every bit of your attention, with repercussions far beyond the two teams part of this contest.
Keep it away from Saha’s arc
In 2020, Wriddhiman Saha came into the XI midway through the tournament and took it by storm. He is repeating that this season. After being benched for the first five games, Saha has plundered 281 runs in eight matches, averaging 40.1 at a decent strike rate of 123.3.
In the powerplay, he averages a mind-boggling 95.5 while striking at 138.4. His striking powers have allowed his opening partner, Shubman Gill to bide his time in the middle. Hence, Saha kills two birds with one stone which makes it paramount for Bangalore to get him soon.
A deeper look at Saha’s scoring patterns reveals two things. There is a gulf between his numbers versus pace and spin. Against pace, he averages 52.5 at a strike rate of 133.8. The numbers drop to 23.8 and 100 respectively while facing spin. Out of his 41 boundaries, only five have come against spin.
In another striking pattern, most of Saha’s runs have come in the on-side. Facing pace, his strike rate on the on-side is 186.5 and only 86.7 on the off-side. It is engineered from his love to pull the ball. Saha has 67 runs off 34 balls with that stroke. He has also flicked with authority, scoring 31 runs from 15 balls. Therefore, Josh Hazlewood and Co. would need to bowl wide outside the off-stump with apt protection or just keep it in good length.
The ‘H’ factor in RCB’s bowling
What puts the odds in Saha’s favor is that Bangalore have the worst powerplay bowling numbers by a distance. Their average and bowling strike rate are worse than other sides while the economy isn’t great either.
Yet, they have been able to pull things back with the ball. A major reason is Wanindu Hasaranga. Bangalore have the least wickets in the powerplay (14) but the most in the middle-overs (44). Hasaranga has picked 17 wickets, the most in the middle-overs by any bowler and nearly 40 percent of RCB’s exploits in this phase. Harshal Patel has been a big support with his variations. After a lull in between, both the bowlers have been back to their best.
When Gujarat razed down the target of 170 in Match 43 against Bangalore, it was during that unproductive period for Patel and Hasaranga. Although, the latter still picked 2/28 in that match. Bangalore will hope both have another big performance in them to sail past the table-toppers. Not to forget Hazlewood as well.
The Contest
Mohammad Shami versus RCB’s top-order
Wankhede has been one of the venues that has constantly aided lateral movement with the new ball. Mohammad Shami has been the most successful powerplay bowler this year, picking 11 wickets at 17.9 runs apiece. Six of these wickets have come at the Wankhede. It tells you how much the right-arm seamer has enjoyed opening the bowling at this venue.
Gujarat will fancy their chances with Shami bowling against the vulnerable top-order of Bangalore. Virat Kohli has not appeared at the tournament, enduring his worst season in terms of average. Faf du Plessis is their highest run-scorer with 399 runs but has seven innings of less than 20 runs.
Though, Bangalore bat deep but it is hard to come back against a bowling line-up like that of Gujarat. Thus, Shami striking in his first spell can take a massive hit at the Bangalore.
Probable XIs
Both teams are likely to field the same XI. Considering there is little to achieve for Gujarat in this fixture, they can rest some players and that is beyond our powers to anticipate.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammad Siraj
Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, R Sai Kishore, Mohammad Shami, Yash Dayal