Match detailsRoyal Challengers Bangalore
Rashid Khan has a great record in T20s against RCB’s key batters•BCCI
In the spotlight
Shubman Gill has not been his consistent best this season: he’s coming into this game with scores of 6, 35 and 8. His slow starts have also hurt GT’s run rate in the powerplay. But with GT returning to their home base, which also happens to be one of Gill’s most favourite place to score, will he be able to get his side off to a strong start? He has an average of over 64, scoring 833 runs in just 16 games in the IPL at this venue.
Virat Kohli scored a 43-ball 51 against SRH, his third half-century of the season, but it was an innings of two halves. Having raced away to 23 in his first 11 balls, he took 32 deliveries to score the next 28 runs, struggling against left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem as well as the left-arm seam pair of Jaydev Unadkat and Natarajan who bowled an assortment of slower balls. In this year’s IPL, Kohli has struck at 155 with 35 boundaries in the powerplay, but only strikes at 123 in the middle overs hitting just 13 boundaries. GT will look to exploit this by introducing spin early against Kohli, who has a strike rate of under 140 against each of Rashid, Sai Kishore and Noor.
Pitch and conditions
Players will be bracing for a hot afternoon with a peak of 40 degrees. In the last outing at the venue, GT suffered a massive defeat, folding for 89, which Delhi Capitals then chased down within nine overs. In the last afternoon game in Ahmedabad, GT bowlers combined to restrict SRH to 162 for 8 which the hosts then chased down with five balls remaining.
Stats that matter
- Rashid has a great record against RCB’s three key batters in T20s. He has dismissed Kohli twice in eight meetings, while Faf du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik have fallen to him three times in nine and eight meetings respectively.
- RCB have conceded over 60 in the powerplay in six of their nine games this IPL so far.
- While Saha has fallen to Mohammed Siraj three times in six meetings, Gill has a strike rate of 159 against the RCB pacer
Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo