Umran Malik's raw pace and Bhuvneshwar Kumar's consistency will be put to test against Dinesh Karthik's explosive batting and the finesse of Faf du Plessis when Sunrisers Hyderabad clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2022 on Saturday.
Malik has caught everyone's attention with his fiery deliveries this season. His tearway pace has even troubled established batters such as Shreyas Iyer. Alongside senior teammate Bhuvneshwar, the 22-year-old formed a match-winning partnership to defeat Punjab Kings by seven wickets in their previous outing.
Sunrisers, who are targeting a top-4 position, also have yorker-specialist T Natarajan and South African Marco Jansen in their ranks. Jansen has also been able to tease batters with his angles and variations. But the seasoned Du Plessis and Karthik have pummelled the best in the business.
The new RCB skipper roared back to form with a fine 96 as he anchored his team's innings after the top order once again collapsed against Lucknow Super Giants. However, the veteran South African batter missed out on a much deserved maiden IPL hundred in the 18-run win on Tuesday.
On the other hand, Karthik is enjoying one of his best seasons in the league. The wicketkeeper batter has taken the center stage with his heroics for RCB. With scores of 32 not out, 14 not out, 44 not out, 7 not out, 34, 66 not out, and 13 not out in seven innings, Karthik has seemingly been the best finisher this season.
But apart from the duo, the RCB batters will have their task cut out against Sunrisers, who have momentum on their side after winning four games on the trot. All eyes will once again be on Virat Kohli, who would be eager to get out of the rut of low scores.
Opener Anuj Rawat, who apart from a 66 against Mumbai Indians, has failed to capitalize on the opportunity provided to him, S Prabhudessai and Glenn Maxwell too will be hoping to provide substantial contributions with the bat.
Match Details
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Match No. 36
Venue: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai
Date & Time: April 23rd at 7:30 PM IST
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network, Star Gold and Disney+Hotstar
RCB vs SRH Dream 11 Prediction
Keeper – Dinesh Karthik (C), Nicholas Pooran
Batsmen – Rahul Tripathi, Faf du Plessis, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli
All-rounders – Glenn Maxwell, Aiden Markram (VC)
Bowlers – T Natarajan, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj
Captain: Dinesh Karthik
Vice-captain: Aiden Markram
RCB vs SRH Probable XIs:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Kane Williamson (c), Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Shashank Singh, Jagadeesha Suchith, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik
