The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) travel to Bengaluru to take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for what is a must-win match for the Knights, who only have two victories at the halfway stage of the preliminary round of the competition. RCB, on the other hand, are beginning to hit their stride, with back-to-back wins for the first time this year.
In the reverse fixture this season, KKR dominated the encounter at the Eden Gardens, winning by 81 runs. Shardul Thakur was the hero with the bat with a stupendous 68 at number seven, while Impact Player Suyash Sharma and frontline spinner Varun Chakravarthy combined beautifully to take seven wickets between them.
Before KKR and RCB go at it again in IPL 2023, My Kolkata identifies the key battles that will separate the winners from the losers
Venkatesh Iyer versus Mohammed Siraj
Venkatesh Iyer will be looking to replicate his heroics from Mumbai in Bengaluru TT Archives
Both players had a game to forget against each other at Eden, but at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, it should be a different story. Not least because Siraj is RCB’s leading wicket-taker with 13 scalps and Iyer is KKR’s leading run-getter with 254 runs. Siraj’s phenomenal consistency in Bengaluru has been instrumental to RCB’s new-found resilience with the ball, something that Iyer will be looking to dismantle with the kind of whirlwind hitting he displayed at the Wankhede Stadium earlier in April.
Umesh Yadav versus Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis has been dismissed by Umesh Yadav only once before in the IPL TT Archives
It has not been a vintage season for Yadav up front, but if anyone can stop the juggernaut that is du Plessis early on, it is the 35-year-old seamer for KKR. Yadav’s natural outswinger is what du Plessis has to be most wary of, given his proclivity to drive on the up and play away from his body. However, should the South African veteran see off Yadav’s first spell without being removed by him for only the second time in IPL history, du Plessis will be favourite to pile on the runs and extend his lead atop the Orange Cap standings.
Varun Chakravarthy versus Glenn Maxwell
Varun Chakravarthy will be in charge of keeping Glenn Maxwell quiet during the middle overs TT Archives
The IPL is witnessing the finest version of Maxwell since 2014, when he almost powered the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the championship. Having been dismissed by Chakravarthy cheaply in their first meeting this season, Maxwell will be better prepared against Chakravarthy’s straight ones. The Australian, who has a strike rate of almost 150 against Chakravarthy, should ideally avoid hitting across the line as much as possible, forcing Chakravarthy to adjust his line to make the Big Show do something different. Ultimately, whoever wins this clash in the middle overs could go a long way in swinging the match towards their team.