Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bangalore are eyeing a win in their last league game against table-toppers Gujarat Titans to move to the IPL playoffs at Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.
The plus point for RCB is that they will be playing at their home venue before die-hard fans, who will be backing them through the game.
A peek into RCB's camp reveals that they have picked up huge wins in their last two matches against Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Virat Kohli rose to the occasion in a crunch match to defeat Hyderabad with his blazing 63-ball 100, in a match where Heinrich Klaasen also smashed a century, which helped his team to set a target of 187 to win.
Faf du Plessis would look to rev up the engines early in the innings along with Virat as they did in the last match. The duo had knit together 172 runs for the opening partnership which was the highest stand in IPL 2023 for any wicket.
The RCB bowlers have been able to find their stride in most parts of the IPL. Mohammed Siraj has been simply awesome in the company of Michael Bracewell, especially in Power Plays.
On the other hand, Gujarat's spot in the Qualifier 1 is assured, and skipper Hardik Pandya and the coaching staff would want to end the league stage on a high note and carry forward the momentum into the business end.
Shubman Gill became the first centurion for Gujarat in the last match, finishing with a magnificent 101 off 58 balls. His nonchalant strokeplay, coupled with timing that made cricket experts raise their eyebrows, took them to a match-winning total.
Gujarat bowlers too were outstanding on the night, reducing Hyderabad to 154 runs in their 20 overs. They also picked up nine wins so far and a victory at Chinnaswamy would equal their points tally from last season.
Sai Sudharsan and Yash Dayal, who returned to the playing XI in the last match, instantly produced positive results, which speaks volumes about the team environment.
Mohammad Shami and Rashid Khan are the bowlers to watch out for. They have hogged plenty of limelight with 23 wickets each, but senior pacer Mohit Sharma also has been on song.
Mohit has scalped 17 wickets in only 10 matches and returned with a sensational spell of four for 28 against Hyderabad. His bowling average (13.53) is the second best in the tournament among bowlers with 10 wickets or more.
Gill has scored 576 runs so far in this IPL edition, and could become only the sixth cricketer in this tournament to score 600 runs in a season before turning 25, while Hardik needs two wickets to complete 150 wickets in T20 cricket.
David Miller is 52 runs away from completing 3000 runs in T20 cricket in India. (UNI)
