IPL 2022 | KKR vs RCB | Pre-Match Analysis

Another riveting battle awaits us in the Indian Premier League 2022. The Kolkata Knight Riders are set to cross swords with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the sixth game of the ongoing mega tournament.

KKR is coming into the match with a fine victory against CSK in the season's opening match. In contrast, RCB lost their first match against Punjab, unable to defend a big total that they put on the board. Before the match begins, let's look at what we can expect from the game.

RCB Batting: The RCB batting will depend again on Faf Du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik. Bangalore will hope that the three batters again help them to a formidable total.

Let's look at how these players play in the different phases of a game. Here we look at the strike rate of the three batters in the different stages.

Table: Strike Rate of RCB batters in different phases of a match

Observation: The table gives us an idea of the plan that RCB will go about while batting. Virat Kohli and Faf Du Plessis will be looking to provide them with solidity at the start and try and bat as deep as possible into the innings. Once set, they can destroy any world-class bowling attack in death overs. If they are dismissed before, RCB has Sherfane Rutherford's power in the death overs. Rutherford's strike rate of 195 for a player who gets little time to settle down is way more than impressive in the final overs. Dinesh Karthik will aid rutherford in providing RCB with a strong finish.

KKR Bowling: The KKR bowling attack comprises Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarty, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. Let's look at the economy rate of the KKR bowlers during different phases.

Table: Economy rate of KKR bowlers in different phases

Observation: Umesh Yadav proved himself as a powerplay bowler in the opening match of IPL 2022. The table shows that Varun Chakravarty and Sunil Narine are the best death bowlers in the current KKR bowling attack. In the first match, the death over bowling of the team was not tested, but Shreyas Iyer will have to think differently in the next match. If he goes by the usual convention of using pacers in the death overs, that might get his team in trouble. All his pacers have an economy rate of over 10 in the death overs; thus, Iyer would have to think out of the box. 

KKR Batting: The KKR batting depends highly on Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana and Shreyas Iyer. Let's look at how they score in the different phases of a match.

Table: KKR batters in different phases of play

Observation: Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer will be entrusted with the job of solidifying the initial phase of their batting. Shreyas Iyer will be the best bet to anchor the team - batting as deep as possible while others around him try and increase the run rate. The 'Hulk' for KKR will be Andre Russell as he will have only one job - go out there and smash the bowlers apart.

RCB Bowling: The RCB bowling will have the likes of David Willey, Mohammed Siraj, Wanindu Hasaranga and Harshal Patel.

Table: RCB bowlers’ Economy rate in different phases of a match

Observation: The problem for RCB bowling is evident from the table. The problem lies in the death overs, and Faf will just be hoping that Hazlewood joins the squad soon. According to the stats, the plan for today's match should be Siraj and Harshal in the powerplays, Willey and Hasaranga in the middle overs, and back the duo of Harshal and Willey again for the death overs. 

In the middle overs, they have to try and squeeze in a few overs from their fifth bowling option and leave at least one of Willey over for the death. 

The death over bowling seems to be the issue for both teams. It would be intriguing to see the skippers picking out their brains at the most exciting stage of the match.