IPL 2022, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders: RCB up against confident KKR | Cricket News – Times of India

This will weigh heavily on Faf du Plessis and his men when they go up against a resurgent Kolkata Knight Riders at the DY Patil stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday night. KKR are riding high on confidence, having begun their campaign with a resounding six-wicket win over defending champions Chennai Super Kings.

The venue has been a happy hunting ground for Kolkata, who have never lost a match there. Also, they go into the contest with the psychological advantage of having beaten RCB in three outings, including the eliminator, last season. Although RCB’s new-look middle-order remained largely untested in the previous game, they will take heart from the performance of the top-order led by skipper Du Plessis, who opened his campaign for his new franchise with a 57-ball 88.
Add to it the form of Virat Kohli and the potential of youngster Anuj Rawat, RCB will look to get off to a good start. Their middle-order, anchored by Dinesh Karthik, has enough fire power including the dangerous David Willey, Sherfane Rutherford and Shahbaz Ahmed. The crucial box that they will need to be ticked against the former champions with an explosive batting line-up is bowling.

As they continue to miss the services of Josh Hazlewood, the pace attack of Willey and Mohammad Siraj, who had a forgettable first outing, will need to put their house in order. Siraj, who misfired on more than one count, will have to put the horror night behind and start afresh. RCB gave away 22 extras, with Siraj accounting for 10.
And in an attempt to bowl wide, the 28-year-old’s line and length was all over the place. Unlike the previous game, RCB should look at bowling Harshal Patel and leggie Wanindu Hasaranga early. To utilise spinner Shahbaz, who bowled just one over, more could also help RCB’s cause.

Kolkata, on the other hand, ticked most boxes against CSK, and their depth in batting can be a worrying factor for the opposition. Starting with Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer, they have potential match winners until No. 8 batsman Sunil Narine.
Umesh Yadav will be their main weapon in Powerplay and one area they will have to make amends is the death overs, having given away 47 runs in the last three overs against CSK. With the dew factor being pivotal to a team’s strategy, for the side winning the toss chasing will be the obvious choice.