Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be looking to make the most out of their second-life as they prepare to take on Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Eliminator on Wednesday, May 25.
RCB have Mumbai Indians (MI) to thank for their playoff spot after the bottom team on the
IPL 2022 Points Table beat Delhi Capitals (DC) in their final outing which meant DC, despite having a healthier Net Run Rate, were left on 14 points, two lesser than RCB’s tally of 16 points.
LSG meanwhile missed out on a top-two spot after Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat them in their penultimate group game to take that spot, leaving Lucknow to thread the hard-route if they’re to make the IPL 2022 Finals.
Bangalore will fancy their chances against Lucknow after putting in a dominant performance when the
two sides met earlier this season. Faf du Plessis (96 off 64 balls) led from the front as he helped RCB post 181/6 after being invited to bat.
Josh Hazlewood (4/25) was unplayable on the night as he caused LSG batters all sorts of problems. Krunal Pandya (42 off 28 balls) tried to put up a fight but Lucknow ultimate fell short by 18 runs.
Hazlewood (2/39) was once again among the wickets as RCB did well to restrict GT to 168/5. Kohli (73 off 54 balls) and du Plessis (44 off 38 balls) then shared a 115-run opening stand before Glenn Maxwell (40 not-out off 18 balls) played a blinder to seal the win with 8 balls to spare.
LSG meanwhile were pushed right up to the final delivery in a
thrilling run-fest against Kolkata Knight Riders in their last outing. Quinton de Kock (140 not-out off 70 balls) and KL Rahul (68 not-out off 51 balls) put up the highest opening stand in the IPL as they fired LSG to 210/0 after opting to bat.
Mohsin Khan (3/20) then did the early damage before Rinku Singh (40 off 15 balls) threatened to take the game away in the final three overs. However, Marcus Stoinis (3/23) managed to keep his cool in the final over to seal a thrilling 2-run victory.
LSG vs RCB Team News:
Lucknow Super Giants Team News: Krunal Pandya sat out of LSG’s last game with a niggle but the all-rounder is set to return to the Playing XI for this match.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Team News: Siddarth Kaul came in to replace Mohammed Siraj who was injured in the last game but returned poor figures of 0/43. Siraj should return to the side if he’s deemed fit.
LSG vs RCB Pitch Report: The track at the Eden Gardens seemed a bit two-paced in Qualifier 1 with the middle-order batters struggling to find the right timing. The slower ball will be hard to put away but once set the batters should be able to find boundaries at will thanks to the quick outfield.
LSG vs RCB Weather Report: There are a few chances of a thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening at Kolkata on Wednesday, May 25. The humidity levels are also expected to be on the higher side with means dew could also come into play in the second innings.
Where to Watch LIVE: Match starts at 7.30 pm IST on Wednesday, May 25 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.
LSG vs RCB Top Fantasy League Picks:
Top Batting Picks: Faf du Plessis is RCB’s leading scorer and looks in good form going into the knockouts too with 443 runs to his name. KL Rahul (537 runs) and Quinton de Kock (502 runs) meanwhile have been at their destructive best and can be backed to once again provide LSG a solid start.
Top All-Rounder Picks: Krunal Pandya has been enjoying a good season and has 183 runs to go along with his impressive tally of 9 wickets this season. Glenn Maxwell is another player in a rich vein of form and has been contributing consistently as evidenced by his tally of 268 runs and 6 wickets from just 11 games.
Top Bowling Picks: Wanindu Hasaranga is in the mix for the Purple Cap after picking up 24 wickets this season. Avesh Khan (17 wickets) has been leading the attack impressively for LSG while Mohsin Khan has also stepped up off late with 13 wickets from just 8 games.
LSG vs RCB Predicted XI:
Lucknow Super Giants (Probable XI): Quinton de Kock (WK), KL Rahul (C), Evin Lewis, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Krishnappa Gowtham, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Probable XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga Harshal Patel, Siddarth Kaul/Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood.
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (C), Manan Vohra, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Quinton De Kock, Ravi Bishnoi, Dushmantha Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Avesh Khan, Andrew Tye, Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya and Jason Holder.
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 and Siddharth Kaul.
