RCB vs RR: Pitch report and match preview
In the first game of the Super Sunday, Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore will host Ajinkya Rahane's Rajasthan Royals at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Rajasthan have the better record against the home side at Chinnaswamy, winning 3 and losing 2 of the 6 encounters. Who will prevail in this battle of the Royals? Here is our pitch report and statistical preview.
Chahal just two wickets away from being RCB legend
RCB's premier spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is just two wickets away from toppling Vinay Kumar as the leading wicket-taker for the Bangalore outfit. Chahal has bagged 71 wickets for the Royal Challengers. The skipper of the side, Virat Kohli is shy of just 20 runs to complete 26,000 runs in his professional cricket career across all the formats of the game.
Short is literally short of 24 runs
Rajasthan Royals' D'Arcy Short is literally short of 24 runs to reach the 1,000 run milestone in T20 cricket. Short also needs two fours to complete 100 fours in the T20 format. Englishman Jos Buttler needs 33 more runs to complete 13,000 runs in his professional career while Rahul Tripathi needs 15 runs to complete 3,000 runs across all formats.
Contrasting tale of two captains
Rahane averages 57.4 at the Chinnaswamy in the T20 format. Rahane has scored 287 runs at this venue in six innings. Rahane's only century in T20 cricket also came at the Chinnaswamy Stadium against RCB. Kohli, on the other hand, has had a nightmare at the Chinnaswamy against the Royals, having scored 41 runs in five innings at an average of 8.20.
Rajasthan Royals have always outfoxed Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli might be the most consistent batsmen in cricket right now, but the RCB skipper averages just 19.84 against the Rajasthan Royals, which is his lowest against any opposition in the cash-rich tournament.
Chinnaswamy is McCullum's kryptonite
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be sweating over the fact that Brendon McCullum can't get going at their home ground. The big-hitting Kiwi has managed to score just 86 runs in his last 7 IPL games in Bangalore. After scoring an unbeaten 158 in the IPL 1 opener, McCullum averages a paltry 12.28 at the Chinnaswamy with his highest score being 45.
The Royals have a tough time containing ABD
AB de Villiers is the superman of cricket and literally has no weakness. But amongst all the teams, the Rajasthan Royals have been ABD's biggest victims. The South African has scored 485 runs at an average of 48.50 with six fifties against them. ABD tops the list of the most runs scored by any player against the Royals.
RCB's batting vs RR's bowling
Dhawal Kulkarni has tormented Virat Kohli in the past editions of the IPL. Kohli has managed to score just 78 runs off 66 balls against Kulkarni. Moreover, the right-arm medium pacer has bagged the crucial wicket of Kohli on 4 occasions. AB de Villiers has only managed to score 13 off 15 balls against Ben Stokes across two T20 matches.
Spinners could have the final say
Chinnaswamy has been a batsman's paradise in the past, but against KXIP it wasn't a cakewalk for RCB. The ball turned and the pace of the surface was quite slow. If the pitch turns out to be a flat pitch, spinners will have a nightmare but if the pitch is slow (like the last match), the spinners will have the final say.
