It’s the last chance for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to stake a claim for an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Playoff berth when they take on Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday, May 19.
GT have locked top spot on the
IPL 2022 Points Table while RCB are currently fifth with 14 points. They’re level on points with Delhi who are fourth but behind due to a negative Net Run Rate (NRR) of -0.323.
Bangalore need to win and then hope that Delhi, who have a healthier NRR of +0.255, drop the ball in their final match to stand a chance of making it to the knockout stage.
The earlier league meeting between the two sides saw GT emerge victorious courtesy
another Rahul Tewatia special. Virat Kohli (58 off 53 balls) and Rajat Patildar (52 off 32 balls) scored half-centuries to help RCB post 170/6 after opting to bat.
RCB looked in control at one point, as they reduced GT to 95/4 but Tewatia walked out and smashed an unbeaten 43 off 25 balls to seal the win with 6 wickets and 3 balls to spare.
Opener Wriddhiman Saha (67 not-out off 57 balls) then anchored the chase to ensure there weren’t any hiccups as Gujarat sealed their 10th win of the season.
Bangalore on the other hand, come into this tie after a
humbling 54-run defeat to Punjab Kings. Harshal Patel (4/34) picked up impressive figures but Josh Hazlewood (0/64) had a night to forget as PBKS posted 209/9 after RCB opted to bowl.
RCB then barely got going in the chase as barring Glenn Maxwell (35 off 22 balls) no other batters showed much fight as they only managed to post 155/9.
Bangalore will have their work cut out against a high-flying Gujarat who will be eager to maintain their winning momentum. However, that could also work in RCB’s favour as they’ll be encouraged to play with freedom as they enter the tie with nothing to lose.
RCB vs GT Team News:
RCB Team News: Bangalore have no injury concerns and have seem to have settled down into a stable Playing combination after promoting Virat Kohli to the top of the order.
GT Team News: Gujarat named an unchanged team in their last outing but might be tempted to give some of the squad players some much-needed game time as the result won’t have any impact on their position.
RCB vs GT Pitch Report: While the Wankhede Stadium has mostly served up low-scoring encounters, the last game was a run fest with Hyderabad just about edging Mumbai by 3 runs after posting 193/6. Both teams have won all the three games they’ve played at the venue this season and have enjoyed the small boundaries and bounce on offer.
Where to Watch LIVE: Match starts at 7.30 pm IST on Thursday, May 19, with the Toss scheduled for 7.00 pm IST. The match will be telecast live on the Star Sports network. Viewers can also tune into the action via the Disney+ Hotstar.
RCB vs GT Top Fantasy League Picks:
Top Batting Picks: Faf du Plessis has led from the front for RCB this season and is their leading scorer with 399 runs from 13 games. Shubman Gill meanwhile is GT’s top run-getter with 402 runs from 13 games and he’ll be eager to bounce back after a quiet outing.
Top All-Rounder Picks: Hardik Pandya is back to bowling again and the GT captain has 351 runs to go along with his tally of 4 wickets. Glenn Maxwell is also in good form and has 5 wickets and 228 runs from just 10 games this season.
Top Bowling Picks: Wanindu Hasaranga is second in the race for the Purple Cap and has an impressive 23 wickets from just 13 games. Mohammed Shami meanwhile has picked up wickets consistently and is GT’s leading wicket-taker with 18 scalps this term.
RCB vs GT Probable Playing XIs
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Predicted XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (C), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood
Gujarat Titans (Predicted XI): Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade/Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (C), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal/Lockie Ferguson and Mohammed Shami.
RCB vs GT Full Squads:
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (c), Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Gurkeerat Singh, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Matthew Wade, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wriddhiman Saha, Alzarri Joseph, Darshan Nalkande, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Pradeep Sangwan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Varun Aaron, Yash Dayal.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudesai, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, David Willey, Rajat Patidar, Siddharth Kaul.
First Published: May 19, 2022 9:41 AM IST
