When the plan for IPL 2023 was being finalized, the dates of the Karnataka state assembly polls had not been set. So that there wouldn’t be a conflict with the elections, which are likely to be in May, the IPL gave Bangalore six games in April. This gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a great chance to get off to a good start right at the beginning of the competition.
The last of these six games will be played on Wednesday night at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The home team will play against the struggling Kolkata Knight Riders, who haven’t won a game yet this season and aren’t sure where their next two points will come from. The first time these two teams met, at Eden Gardens, KKR beat RCB by 81 runs, so Faf du Plessis’s team will be thinking about getting even.
Consecutive Triumphs:
RCB has won two games in a row for the first time this season after beating Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. They will be quietly confident that they can end the long stretch of home games on a high note. Even though they have a weak middle order, they have been able to get enough runs from Faf du Plessis, who is their captain for the season but has only played as a batter in the last two games because of a rib injury and from Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell, who has been playing together for a long time.
Bowling, led by Mohammed Siraj, has helped the team get out of trouble more than once. The Hyderabadi has consistently scored in the Powerplay and owns the Purple Cap. He has been incredible with the white ball for a long time, and his speed and accuracy have set the tone for his teammates. Wanindu Hasaranga, the Sri Lankan leg-spinner who took the most wickets for them last season, joined the team last week. He has given the attack more class, so RCB has easily protected not-so-impressive totals.
Hard Circumstances For KKR:
Since Rinku Singh’s trick against the winners, the Gujarat Titans, more than two weeks ago, KKR has had a hard time. Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians (despite Venkatesh Iyer’s century), fellow losers Delhi Capitals, and Chennai Super Kings all beat them badly, and they haven’t been able to put out a stable team.
Their most crucial all-rounder, Andre Russell, hasn’t played yet, and their captain, Nitish Rana, usually one of their most reliable batsmen, hasn’t found a flow. The bowling seems to be lacking ideas besides the spinners Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, and Suyash Sharma, who have taken 23 of the 38 wickets that 12 KKR bowlers have taken so far this season.
