IPL 2022 RCB vs SRH - Can unfancied Sunrisers make it 5 in a row?

Key match stats RCB vs SRH

Pitch Stats – Brabourne Stadium

Average first innings score: 186
Average first innings winning score: 203
Average powerplay score: 54
Win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 44% / 56%

Team form RCB vs SRH
RCB – WWLWW
SRH – WWWWL
Recent meetings: SRH won by 4 runs, RCB won by 6 runs

RCB vs SRH Preview

Who would have thought after a couple of hours of SRH's opening match this season that at the halfway point they'd have the chance to make it 5 wins in a row and go top of the table?

I guess the good news for those sides currently languishing in the bottom half of the table is that the Sunrisers have set an example of how you can turn your season around if the squad stays together and plays to its strengths!

I don't think it's unfair to say that conditions at the DY Patil Stadium where SRH have recorded 3 out of their 4 victories have assisted with that turnaround. The slightly slower nature of the pitches has suited the likes of Bhuvi and Natarajan as well as their finger spinners.

They now move onto the other 3 venues knowing that their bowlers are likely to come under a little more pressure with some big hitting while their batsmen will need to follow suit and put big totals on the board.

The other acid test for the men in orange will come should they be asked to bat first in this game. In all 6 matches so far this season they've had the luxury of chasing and knowing how they need to pace their innings. Against a very strong RCB bowling attack, I'm interested to see how this Sunrisers team will respond if they are asked to set a total.

As for RCB, they are still yet to hit peak form in this year's IPL which is ominous for the those sides around them considering their 5 wins so far.

Faf played another great captain's innings in getting them a competitive score against Lucknow last time out but it's their bowlers who look most likely to win them matches and that is a very good sign for a side that for so long has relied on big hitting batsmen to get the job done and of course for so long has gone without a title!

Team	Powerplay Wickets	Powerplay Economy
RR	13	7.1
GT	14	7.3
RCB	8	7.8
LSG	11	8.5
SRH	12	7.4

RCB trail behind other teams in the top half of the IPL in regards penetration in the powerplay but make up for it during the middle overs

If you were to look at their bowling stats in the powerplay then it would be tempting to think that they are off the pace of the other sides challenging at the top of the league but what they have done better than any other side so far this season is take wickets in the middle overs. In fact, they've struck 24 times between overs 7 to 15 this season which is 6 times more than any other team so far in IPL 2022!

On a pitch which has been as good for batting as the Brabourne has, it could well prove to be that ability to continue to take wickets and limit the momentum of the batting team that ultimately decides this game.

RCB vs SRH head to head

SRH bowling vs RCB batting

Washington Sundar looks likely to make a return to the SRH side to face his former club here today. He's had a very good start to IPL 2022 with both bat and ball and Kane Williamson could be tempted to give him some overs in the powerplay here against Faf and Anju Rawat. As the stats below show neither of RCB's openers have looked particularly fluent in the powerplay against slow bowling.

Anju Rawat and Faf du Plessis IPL 2022 powerplay stats vs slow bowling

Then of course comes an under pressure Virat Kohli who is suffering from a rare slump in form. Kohli's problems are largely self-inflicted and stem from some poor shots + a couple of run outs and then the incredibly high standards that he's set for such a long period of time - if it were another batsmen, it's unlikely we'd be taking much notice.

His battle against Bhuvi could be crucial in this game as the head to head stats below show but I'm also very interested to see how he and Glenn Maxwell go against Umran Malik on this pitch. Yes, the Brabourne has been a batting paradise this season but it does offer pace and carry as KKR found out when Malik returned figures of 2 for 27 from his 4 overs last time here. We've mentioned the importance of taking wickets in the middle overs and for SRH, the young pace bowler is their trump card in that regard.

Bhuvi vs Kohli T20 head to head

At the back end of the innings we then have a head to head between one of the most effective bowling units at the death vs one of the best batting teams in the same phase.

Again, it's wicket taking that has proved the most successful way of limiting opposition for SRH and between them Bhuvi (6 wkts at the death) and Natarajan (7 wkts at the death) have been the chief destroyers in that phase of the game.

Today, they come up against Dinesh Kartik, a player who simply isn't getting out! So far in IPL 2022, he is averaging an incredible 210 having been dismissed just once with the bulk of those runs coming at the death.

Karthik death over stats for IPL 2022

RCB bowling vs SRH batting

I'm very much looking forward to the battle at the top of the SRH innings between 2 classical cricketers plying their trade with great effect in the shorter form. The wicket of Kane Williamson will be crucial and in Josh Hazlewood RCB have a bowler who they will hope can add to the 8 powerplay wickets they've taken so far this season. In fact, Hazlewood and fellow opening bowler Mohammed Siraj have a pretty good record against SRH's skipper in T20 cricket.

Siraj and Hazelwood combined T20 head to head vs Williamson

Alternatively, RCB could look to attack this opening pair with spin. Once again, Glen Maxwell shows his worth as an all-round cricketer by having good head to head stats against renowned batsmen while the match-up of the off-spinner against the left-handed Abhishek Sharma will also be something for Faf to consider.

Maxwell T20 head to head vs Williamson

Next in would be the in-form Rahul Tripahti who played a great knock here at the Brabourne against KKR last time out. If RCB are looking for a match-up to limit his impact here today then surely it will be to get Shahbaz Ahmed on against him given Tripathi's woeful looking career stats vs slow left arm bowling.

Tripathi career T20 stats vs slow left arm bowling

SRH have also been very good with the bat at the death lead by Aiden Markram and Nicolas Pooran. Unlike SRH, this RCB side is again struggling to take wickets at either end of the innings.

Harshal Patel, took a hat full of wickets in the slog overs last year but he's managed just a single victim in this year's IPL despite bowling 11 overs at the death!

All stats used in this blog are from my own database. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images which are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free