Tata IPL 2022: RCB to take on confident KKR 

RCB and its bowling struggle continue.

In their first match, Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Punjab Kings by five wickets. They failed to defend the total of 205 runs in the opener fetched by the major contribution of captain Faf du Plessis (88 runs) and Virat Kohli (41 runs). The team's batting was class apart, starting slow, getting to know the pitch and then oozing out runs. However, bowling has always been a challenging area for Bangalore. This will come up as a massive responsibility for the new skipper to have his team's bowling arms in the best way ahead. Their key pacer Mohammad Siraj had a horrible first match. He gave out 10 of 22 extra runs alone. With Josh Hazlewood still missing out, the current pace attack needs to look out for their performance. They could better utilise spinner Shahbaz, who bowled just one over in the previous match.

On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders will get on the crease with confidence after defeating last time champions Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural match. They won the match by six wickets as Umesh Yadav struck two early wickets and Ajinkya Rahane smashed 44 runs. They displayed great character overall in all three departments. They have excellent batting depth till number eight, with Umesh Yadav playing a pivotal role in powerplay overs with his muscle power. Skipper Shreyas Iyer was all hailed for his top-notch captaincy. He used his experienced bowlers and fresh talent in proper rotation to dominate CSK batters.

Pitch Condition

The DY Patil Stadium pitch offers decent bounce to bowlers, as was evident from the last match RCB played. A high scoring ground where a total of up to 170 can be expected from the team batting first. The toss winning team will look to chase without a shred of doubt.

Predicted Playing XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep

Kolkata Knight Riders: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Jackson (wk), Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy

Stats to keep an eye on

Faf du Plessis (1170) is only one of three players to have tallied a combined 1000-plus run in the tournament since the 2020 season. KL Rahul (1296) and Shikhar Dhawan (1248) occupy the top two spots. Russell's 75 sixes are the second-most in the tournament since 2019. KL Rahul leads the pack with 78 sixes.

Ajinkya Rahane needs 15 runs to become the ninth Indian to score 4000 IPL runs. If he gets there, he will be the fifth-fastest to do so. Kolkata Knight Riders, who beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in the eliminator in the previous season, may have a slight edge on the back of a winning start. The Royal Challengers' chance to prove themselves in tonight's match.