In the 70th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on Gujarat Titans (GT) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru tonight i.e. Sunday, May 21 at 7:30 PM IST.
RCB have 14 points already in 13 games but are still battling for the fourth position with three other teams. A victory will ensure them that position, nonetheless, winning against the defending champions will be a tough task. The Royals from Bengaluru are in superb form as their openers, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, are consistently giving the side a strong start. Glenn Maxwell‘s form is particularly encouraging, considering the batter has rarely had a season like this previously. This might be his most significant season since 2014. It will be another high-scoring battle at Chinnaswamy Stadium, but in order to get that enormous total, even the middle order must buckle down and execute. Although Mahipal Lomror and Anuj Rawat have shown some promise, it will be a long time before fans can totally rely on them to finish the game. For RCB to qualify, either they need to win or at least should not lose in 19.1 overs or by seven runs.
On the other hand, GT are in some other league being very calm and composed. They can even manage to rest their main team and ask the reserves to go out there in the centre and give some auditions for the next season. The likes of Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar and Srikar Bharat might get to play ahead of some regular ones. Nevertheless, who needs a break when someone is in top-notch form like Shubman Gill? The right-handed batter has amassed 576 runs already and with a few more games to go, he can surely aim for that orange cap as well. Furthermore, the bowlers for GT are consistent with their skills, with Mohammad Shami, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, and Mohit Sharma all playing admirably. From Shami giving breakthroughs in the powerplay to Sharma providing economical spells at the backend of the innings, it’s all perfectly working for GT.
Head-to-Head:
The two teams have clashed twice, with both GT and RCB winning one fixture each. In their last outing, which took place in the previous season, RCB won the game by eight wickets.
Where-to-Watch:
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