Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be locking horns with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 36th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 26th April. This will be the second game between these two teams this season, Kolkata Knight Riders won the first match by a huge margin of 81 runs.
Royal Challengers Bangalore is currently placed fifth on the points table, with 4 victories in 7 matches. They have 8 points to their tally and a net run rate of -0.008. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders have only managed to win a couple of games out of 7 this season, they are standing third-last on the points table with 4 points to their tally and a net run rate of -0.186.
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KKR will be coming into this game on the back of 4 consecutive losses while the RCB is coming on the back of 2 consecutive wins. These two teams have faced each other in a total of 31 games so far, where Kolkata won 17 games while Bangalore managed 14 wins. Another mouth-watering encounter is anticipated here between these two teams on Wednesday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
A rib injury to regular skipper du Plessis meant that RCB had to make use of the Impact sub-rule to use him purely as a batter in their last couple of games, with Kohli captaining the side. This is likely to continue with head coach Mike Hesson saying: “Faf is making very good progress. The risk of fielding and diving around and re-injuring is still there. So we won’t put him at risk if that’s the case.”
Hesson also said RCB is awaiting clearance from Cricket Australia for the participation of Josh Hazlewood, with Hesson stating that the pacer has been making good progress recovery-wise.
Probable XI: Virat Kohli (c), Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, David Willey, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Jason Roy was off the field for 12 minutes towards the end of KKR’s bowling innings against CSK, because of which he couldn’t open the innings and the team used their fifth different opening combination in seven matches. Roy will be back at the top for this game, while David Wiese could get another go as he failed to do much against CSK. Shardul Thakur bowled an extended spell during the practice session and could replace Kulwant Khejroliya.
Probable XI: N Jagadeesan (wk), Jason Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy. Impact Player – Suyansh Sharma.
Fantasy XI Suggestion 1:
Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli (c), Faf du Plessis, Jason Roy (vc), Glenn Maxwell, Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sunil Narine, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Varun Chakravarthy
Fantasy XI Suggestion 2:
Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Jason Roy (c), Glenn Maxwell, Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj (vc), Varun Chakravarthy, David Willey
