RCB vs KKR, IPL 2023: Records and Stats at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will travel to Bengaluru as they meet Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the second time in match number 36 of the IPL 2023 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on 26^th April 2023.

Kolkata Knight Riders will be coming into the contest after successive losses against Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings. With two wins out of seven games they sit at eighth position in the points table. KKR hammered RCB by 81 runs when both the teams last met. Both their reliable overseas sensations, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell are yet to make a mark in this ongoing edition of IPL.

As far as batting is concerned, Venkatesh Iyer has been brilliant, scoring 254 runs at an average of 36.29 in as many as seven games, and Rinku Singh has got a couple of half-centuries as well. Jason Roy too has come good in both the games he played, as in just his second game he smashed the second-joint fastest fifty off just 19 balls against CSK while chasing a massive 236. Varun Chakravarthy has accounted for 10 wickets in as many as seven games for KKR. They would seek improved performances as a unit and would require their two reliable players to step-up so as to progress better in upcoming matches.

Royal Challengers Bangalore, on the other hand, will be coming into the contest after two consecutive wins against PBKS and RR. RCB is all about the four big names- Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj. They lost against KKR in the last game they played against them by massive 81 runs margin, and that was the only bad game for RCB in this entire tournament as their remaining two losses against CSK and LSG have come in very close margin.

With four wins in seven games, they sit at fifth position on the points table due to poor net-run-rate compared to other teams. Faf du Plessis has aggregated 405 runs in just 7 innings with a stupendous average of 67.50, he also holds the Orange Cap currently. There have been a total of six century stands recorded by RCB and Faf du Plessis was involved in all those six, three with Kohli and as many with Maxwell. In the bowling department, Mohammed Siraj has been impressive with 13 wickets and he currently holds the Purple Cap. Josh Hazlewood is set to return to the team in upcoming games to give the extra balance to the bowling department. RCB would look to keep the winning momentum going.

M Chinnaswamy Stadium Today's Pitch Report

The surface at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore is a typical batter-friendly surface. A high-scoring encounter is expected given the nature of the pitch. Therefore, the captain winning the toss will prefer to bowl first and chasing the target could prove to be the right decision. The side batting first would look to notch up a huge total on the board to put the opposition under pressure.

RCB vs KKR Head to Head Records:

Both teams have met in 31 matches in which KKR edge over RCB by 17 wins to 14 wins. In the last six games played, both have won three each

IPL records and stats in M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Spinners have thoroughly enjoyed bowling here with bowling average of 29.3 compared to pacers who average 30.0, but in IPL 2023 Pacers have averaged 28.6 and struck at 19.1 compared to spinners who average 37.6 at a strike rate of 23.9. Teams batting second have upper hand over teams batting first with 46 wins over 36 wins in as many as 86 games, as four matches have not yielded results. Chasing is preferred by teams winning toss. In IPL 2023, teams batting first have won three games and batting second have won two games. Average first innings total in IPL 2023 is 194.4, which means a high scoring contest can be expected between KKR and RCB.

Strategy and Match-Ups:

Virat Kohli has scored 102 runs against Sunil Narine and has got dismissed four times in the course of 102 balls.  Glenn Maxwell has scored 88 runs off 82 balls against Narine and has been dismissed four times too. Faf du Plessis too has struggled against Narine, scoring just 46 runs in 63 balls and has been dismissed twice. Hence, the spinner will be the potential trump card to tackle RCB, and Nitish Rana will bring him in early on to counter the RCB’s reliable three.

Interestingly the only game where there were no half-centuries scored by top three RCB batters in the IPL 2023 was against KKR. Varun Chakravarthy too has picked Maxwell twice in the course of 20 balls, giving away only 31 runs.  It will be interesting to see how RCB’s three reliable counter KKR’s spin trio. Wanindu Hasaranga has picked Andre Russell once in 22 balls, while giving away just 25 runs. Harshal Patel too has picked Russell twice in 25 balls and has leaked 35 runs. Faf du Plessis will be using both Harshal Patel and Wanindu Hasaranga in later part of innings to counter Andre Russell.

RCB vs KKR Highest and Lowest Totals Records:

RCB’s Highest total against KKR is 213 while their lowest total is 49.

KKR’s Highest total against RCB is 222 while their lowest total is 84

Players to Watch Out For:

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): 

Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): 

Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis

RCB vs KKR Full Squads:

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Squad:

Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, David Willey, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma,  Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav, Michael Bracewell, Wayne Parnell, Vijaykumar Vyashak. 

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Squad:

Nitish Rana (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Narayan Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Weise, Kulwant Khejrolia, Mandeep Singh, Litton Das, Jason Roy.