Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Red-hot Gujarat Titans face struggling RCB

Teams Status

Gujarat Titans

Gujarat Titans will enter the contest against the Royal Challengers Bangalore as firm favourites as they are the most in-form team in the competition after winning seven out of their first eight matches which left them on top of the points table with 14 points.

The management would be hoping to see the player continue producing similar kinds of performances and help the side in securing their place in the last four.

In the previous outing, the Titans defeated in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in a nail-biting contest.

Gujarat are a one balanced outfit where the team is not overly relying on their batting or bowling unit to secure victories which makes them such a dangerous side to face.  

With the bat in hand, captain and star all-rounder Hardik Pandya is leading the chart with 305 runs at an average of 61 along with the strike-rate of 137.38, which include three half-centuries.

He is followed closely by South Africa’s veteran middle-order batter David Miller (237 at 59.25 and strike-rate of 149.05) and young Shubman Gill (229 at 28.62 and strike strike-rate of 142.23).

In the bowling department, veteran pacer Mohammad Shami is leading the wickets chart with 13 scalps to his name at an average of 18.52 along with an economy-rate of 7.53.

Other than him, fellow pacer Lockie Ferguson, right-arm leg-spinner Rashid Kha and left-arm pacer Yash Dayal have managed to claim nine, eight and seven wickets, respectively.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will enter the contest against Gujarat Titans as an underdog, especially after a recent slump in form which left them with 10 points after nine matches.

In their previous outing, the side suffered a thumping 29-run defeat — which was their second in a row — against the Rajasthan Royals.

The management would be hoping that the players will produce a much better display which would help the team in breaking the losing streak.

RCB’s strength in the ongoing campaign has been their bowling unit where three bowlers have managed to claim 10 or more wickets.

Sri Lanka’s star leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva is leading the wickets chart with 13 scalps to his name at an average of 18.84. Other than him, pacers Harshal Patel and Josh Hazlewood have claimed 10 wickets each.

In the batting department, captain Faf du Plessis is leading the charts with 278 runs at an average of 30.88 along with the strike-rate of 128.11, which included two fifties.

Other than him, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik (216 at 72 and with the strike-rate of 198.16) and left-hander Shahbaz Ahmed (195 at 32.50 and with the strike-rate of 125.80) have also made valuable contributions.

However, the poor form of experienced campaigners in former captain Virat Kohli and explosive all-rounder Glenn Maxwell will remain a cause of concern for the management.