Indian Premier League 2021 – BLR vs RR 16th T20 – Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Fantasy Article –

The Royal Challengers Bangalore were on the receiving end of quite a bit of ridicule for having gone all out to acquire Glenn Maxwell in the auction. Three games in, the joke is on those skeptics as both RCB and Maxwell find themselves in a happy territory. RCB have cruised to three wins on the trot, the first time they have managed to begin a season in such fashion. Maxwell, meanwhile, has lived up to his ‘X-factor’ tag and has fit into what the franchise needed in the middle-order, quite immaculately.

It’s the first time since IPL 2014 that he has scored back-to-back fifties and has not just played his role of a middle-overs spin-hitter to perfection, but also provided stability with AB de Villiers, who’s been at his destructive best. RCB were impressive on the slow tracks of Chepauk where other teams struggled to get a grip on conditions, and will now move to the pacier ones of the Wankhede for their second leg, where they take on the Rajasthan Royals first-up.

Rajasthan has had contrasting fortunes, being the second-worst in the death overs so far [conceding 12-an-over twice] and losing wickets upfront – two factors that contributed to their wooden-spoon finish last year. In IPL 2020, RR never batted out a Powerplay without losing a wicket, with as many as 29 falling inside the first six overs in 14 games.

Pitch Report –

Four out of the seven games played here this season so far have been won by the teams batting second. It’s typical of the ground where dew comes into play and chasing is preferred. It will be a high-scorer like most games at the Wankhede.

• Bat 1st Ave Score – 170
• Bat 1st Winning Chances – 36.96%
• Highest Score Chased – 228
• Wicket Spilt – PACE – 71.67 / SPIN – 28.33

Top Performers –

• RCB – ABD – R-216, Ave – 54
• RR – S Samson – R-173, Ave – 34.60
• RCB – H Patel – W-9, Ave – 7.67
• RR – C Sakariya – W-6, Ave – 16.67

H2H Records –

• RCB Won – 10
• RR Won – 10
• RR lost both their fixtures against RCB last year in the UAE, with Yuzvendra Chahal starring in one and de Villiers taking the chase deep in the second with an unbeaten 55 off 22 balls.
• RCB will keep Chahal for Samson, given that the leggie has accounted for the RR skipper five times, who averages just 8 against his adversary. Siraj has also troubled Samson, who averages just 9.50 against the quick.
• Shreyas Gopal was left out of the last game but could be called back given the number of right-handers in RCB’s top half. He also boasts of a good record against RCB, with 14 wickets in six games at an economy rate of less than 6 an over. Seven of those 14 wickets have been that of Virat Kohli and de Villiers, further making his case for selection. That said, Kohli has 400 runs at the Wankhede, while de Villiers has 303.

Unavailability/Injuries: 

Daniel Sams joins the RCB bubble after negative COVID reports and will be available for selection.

Liam Livingstone, the England all-rounder, has flown back home citing bubble fatigue. With Ben Stokes out injured and Jofra Archer still unavailable, RR are left with just five overseas players to pick from.

Things To Know –

• AB de Villiers in 19 innings against RR has scored 648 runs, averaging 46.29 and striking at 146.61
• De Villiers’s scoring rate in the death overs at Chepauk was 247.50, while all other batsmen combined had 132.71.
• Harshal Patel in overs 14-20 this season has bowled 7.5 overs, has picked 9 wickets, and conceded less than five an over
• RR has had the worst ER in death overs in IPL 2019 (11.34) and 2020 (11.60) and second-worst so far in IPL 2021 (11.07).

Probable Plying XI –

BLR – Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

RR –  Jos Buttler, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal/Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

BabaCric Expert Dream11 Team

Pre Analyzed Dream11 Team – BLR vs RR

• Note – The team may change any time after the toss, if there are any changes please change immediately or you can join us on our official Telegram channel the link given down after the article.
• The team is based on player points with recent player stats also the team is based on real inner sanctum which helps to predict the team better.
• You can change the team if you have any doubt over it also feel free to comment to us.

Team – 1

C & VC Selection –

• C – V Kohli, J Buttler, S Samson, C Morris, G Maxwell,
• VC – Ab de Villiers, D Miller, R Tewatia, K Jamieson