Ahmedabad: Royal Challengers Banglore are all set to take inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 of Indian Premier League 2022 on Friday at Narendra Modi Stadium. The winning team will face debutants Gujarat Titans in Sunday’s final.
In Qualifier 1, Rajasthan Royals suffered a 7 wicket loss against Gujarat Titans who marched into the final of the IPL 2022 campaign. David Miller stepped up to the challenge and scored an unbeaten 68*(38) which powered Gujarat Titans to a successful chase and a place in the finals.
Then in Eliminator, Royal Challengers Bangalore sealed their spot in Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2022 campaign with a 14-run win over the Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Rajat Patidar’s incredible maiden IPL century and Josh Hazlewood’s crucial three-wicket haul powered RCB to a 14-run victory in a high-scoring thriller.
After winning the last match against Lucknow Super Giants, Faf Du Plessis-led side is all pumped up for their second match in the playoffs.
So far in the tournament, Faf is the highest scorer for the team. He had scored 443 runs in 15 matches with a strike rate of 130.2. Virat Kohli has also been good with the bat in the last few innings. He has scored 334 runs in 15 matches with a strike rate of 116.7. Dinesh Karthik played the role of finisher this year as he smashed 324 runs in 15 matches with a brilliant strike rate of 187.2.
The bowling department of the team did extremely well this season which is one of the reasons that RCB are still in contention for the title. Sri Lankan leg spinner Wanindu Hasaranga is the highest wicket-taker for the team and overall he is second for the most wickets in the IPL 2022. In 15 matches spinner has taken 25 wickets. Harshal Patel who is the talk of the town scalped 19 wickets in 15 matches with an economy of 7.57. Australian pacer Josh Hazelwood took 18 wickets in 11 matches with an economy of 8.33.
Talking about RR, it will be a big match for them as well because it will be a tribute from them to their first-ever captain who led them to their inaugural title win, Shane Warne.
RR finished in the second position of the table this season before the playoffs and after losing their first qualifier they are all prepared to take RCB in Qualifier 2 to remain in the fight for the second title.
Talking about the top performers of RR, Jos Buttler is the highest run-getter of this season with 718 runs in 15 matches with a strike rate of 148.35. Captain Sanju Samson has also shown how to lead the team from the front. He scored 421 runs in 15 matches with a strike rate of 150.36. Left-handed batter Devdutt Padikkal has also performed well with a score of 365 runs in 15 matches and a strike rate of 128.52.
The best for the men in pink this season came through their bowlers. Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is the highest wicket-taker of the season with 26 wickets in 15 matches. Prashidh Krishna took 15 wickets in 15 matches with an economy of 8.36 and Trent Boult took 14 wickets in 14 matches with an economy of 8.33.
RCB Squad 2022: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma, David Willey, Jason Behrendorff, Chama V Milind, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat, Sherfane Rutherford, Aneeshwar Gautam, Siddarth Kaul.
RR Squad 2022: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy, Karun Nair, James Neesham, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch, Navdeep Saini, KC Cariappa, Daryl Mitchell, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Garhwal.
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