RR vs RCB Prediction: Who will win today's IPL 2022 match between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore?
According to the IPL schedule, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will have to face their highest wicket-taker of all time when they lock horns with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 13th match of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, April 5.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who turned out for the franchise for eight seasons and scalped 139 wickets, will wear pink and blue when the two IPL teams face off. The leggie recently stated that RCB never asked if he wanted to be retained, but he shouldn't be too upset about finding a new home. Having formed a lethal partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin, Chahal will look to run through an RCB middle order that will be without their biggest spin enforcer in Glenn Maxwell.
Josh Hazlewood and Jason Behrendorff should be available for RCB even if Maxwell will only make it in time for the Mumbai Indians (MI) game, but it remains to be seen if the Aussie pace duo will be thrust into the picture immediately. With David Willey and Sherfane Rutherford coming up with match-defining innings in the previous game, RCB might be tempted to keep the winning combination intact.
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IPL 2022 Match Prediction: RR vs RCB
RR's bowling attack has been the talk of IPL 2022 so far. Apart from Chahal and Ashwin, Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna have delivered at different stages of the innings. Although Navdeep Saini, another former RCB player, appears to be a weak link, Sanju Samson can afford to reinforce his side with the overseas all-rounders he has at his disposal.
Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli failed in the previous game, but they've been in decent form in IPL 2022. Dinesh Karthik has shone in his well-defined finisher role, while Wanindu Hasaranga has scalped five wickets already in the tournament. Hasaranga has an excellent record against RR's most dangerous batters, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson, and will be key in the middle overs.
Can Buttler and Samson survive Hasaranga and target others in the RCB bowling lineup such as Willey and Akash Deep? Can Devdutt Padikkal make a mark against the franchise which gave him an opportunity to make a name for himself? A lot of questions will be answered in Match 13.
Overall, RR appear to be on a roll and RCB don't seem to have the bowling necessary to stop their opposition's top order. More importantly, Chahal and Ashwin should find it very easy to put a lid on run-scoring in the middle overs. While a close contest could be on the cards, Samson and Co. are the definite favorites.
Prediction: RR to win Match 13 of IPL 2022