Schooled at the Eden Gardens by Kolkata Knight Riders and their assortment of ‘mystery’ spinners, Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping a return to familiar environs will revive their Indian Premier League campaign on Monday. The high of having brushed mighty Mumbai Indians aside in their opening game last Sunday was met with a reality check mid-week when KKR recovered from an iffy start to blast their way past Faf du Plessis’ side. Shardul Thakur did the damage with the bat with an innings of rare brutal beauty, and once RCB had allowed their opponents to post upwards of 200, there was only one winner after du Plessis and Virat Kohli failed to reprise their heroics against Mumbai.
Lucknow need Rahul to fire
Back at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB’s next challenge is against Lucknow Super Giants, helmed by local hero KL Rahul, himself formerly of RCB vintage. Rahul hasn’t exactly set the tournament alight yet, but his team has certainly made a strong statement with victories in two of its first three games. That both those wins came at their home base in Lucknow will not be lost on the RCB management, which will, however, also have taken note of the fact that in their only defeat in Chennai, LSG came within 12 runs of the home side’s intimidating 217 for seven.
LSG skipper KL Rahul
While there is a top-heaviness to RCB’s batting with most of the eggs placed in the du Plessis-Kohli-Glenn Maxwell basket, Lucknow boast greater strength and depth. The riches are spread through the ranks with heavy hitters thickly populating the batting order. The presence of such ferocious ball-strikers as Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran and Romario Shepherd down the order to complement Kyle Mayers at the top means if the situation presents itself, Rahul can bat at his own pace and allow the big-hitters to express themselves unfettered.
Both Mark Wood and Avesh Khan missed Friday’s five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad but were a part of Sunday nets at the Chinnaswamy. In the absence of the two quicks, spinners Krunal Pandya and Amit Mishra stepped up nicely with five for 41 in eight overs between them, though they might not enjoy the same purchase on this strip.
Also read: IPL 2023: RCB focus on spin play and death overs bowling ahead of LSG clash
Willey impressive upfront
RCB were well served in their last game by David Willey, who stepped in nicely to fill the void created by the shoulder injury to Reece Topley. Willey termed the Kolkata outing ‘bitter-sweet’—he himself finished with outstanding figures of 4-1-16-2—but was confident his team had the resources and the wherewithal to counter LSG.
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