Venue: DY Patil Stadium (DY Patil Sports Academy), Navi Mumbai
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 205
Win percentage while batting first: NA
Pitch conditions:
- Going by the way the pitch at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai behaved during the clash between Bangalore and Punjab a few nights ago, another run-fest will not be surprising at this venue on Wednesday night during the clash between Bangalore and Kolkata.
- The pitch at the DY Patil Stadium was completely favourable to batsmen with both the teams scoring an excess of 200 runs in the first match played at this ground in more than 10 years.
- The numbers are out: fast bowlers have a wicket-share percentage of 71.43% compared to 28.57% for the spin bowlers after one match in the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022, even though neither of them have any advantage upfront on this pitch.
Weather prediction:
It will be a bright and sunny day of peak summer in Navi Mumbai with the temperature hitting a high of 38°C in the afternoon, which will drop down to around 30°C during the match hours on Wednesday. The humidity levels will rise sharply from a little under 40% to beyond 50% as the evening progresses.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: 29
Bangalore won: 13
Kolkata won: 16
No result: -
Top 3 players from Bangalore: Faf du Plessis, V Kohlii, Mohammed Siraj
Top 3 players from Kolkata: Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Varun Chakravarthy
Top picks for H2H/WTA conTest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Bangalore: Faf du Plessis, V Kohlii, Mohammed Siraj, Dinesh Karthik, Wanindu Hasaranga
Top 5 players from Kolkata: Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav
Q & A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
Keeping in mind how the first match at this venue — a first in more than a decade at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy — panned out, it will be a right call to make to add more to the batting strength while adding bowlers who can do the job of containment efficiently. In the first match, after seeing off a few initial deliveries, Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis ticked off and scored a brilliant 88 from 57 balls which pushed his team’s total beyond the 200-run mark. In their reply, Punjab batsmen were able to put up collective performances to chase the target with one over to spare. With the pitch easing out further and dew settling in, the Bangalore bowlers looked a little clueless against the onslaught launched by the opposition batsmen.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
This is a game which will require fantasy players to select horses for courses as batting-friendly conditions make it imperative for them to select batsmen who are in-form and can score quick runs without lurking around much. On the paper, both Bangalore and Kolkata have been able to constitute terrific squads that meet all requirements and have tremendous firepower as well. But it remains to be seen if these two teams have enough fuel to go the distance. Bangalore will continue to look to not depend heavily on the top-order which consist of Du Plessis and a freed-up V Kohlii, who looked determined in a different sense and seemed to be enjoying his time in the middle in Bangalore colours. Kolkata will be challenged to come up with different plans than they had for the first game against Chennai at the Wankhede Stadium. If at any stage in the game, spin bowlers come into play and dominate the proceedings at the DY Patil stadium, Kolkata have the edge over Bangalore for they have the likes of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine sharing the workload of 8 overs.
MORE INFORMATION: Bangalore will continue to remain without the services of Australian fast bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Jason Behrendorff since both of them were involved in the national team’s tour of Pakistan. Coming back to the teams, given how Bangalore and Kolkata went about their jobs in their first matches, with the latter winning comfortably against Chennai but the former losing a high-scoring clash against Punjab, it is unlikely that these teams will go for big changes in their playing XI.
PLAYERS’ FORM: Bangalore will be pleased with the fact that former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has been able to ease into the role of captaincy of the franchise without much discomfort. His innings of 88 in the first match was a perfect case in study of leading by example as the others in V Kohlii, Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik followed in the same manner. For Kolkata, Ajinkya Rahane made a big statement scoring 44 whereas the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Sam Billings were also able to get some crucial runs in their kitty, which will help them in their confidence. The bowlers are likely to have a tough time at the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday night, but it will challenge the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine as batsmen will look to attack the more.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
BANGALORE: Faf Du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, V Kohlii, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, David Willey, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahamad, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
KOLKATA: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Sheldon Jackson (wk), Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy
FANTASY XI: Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane/Shreyas Iyer, V Kohlii, Dinesh Karthik (wk), David Willey, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Harshal Patel.
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Bangalore look to make amends against confident Kolkata
The Faf du Plessis-led Bangalore team will look to bounce back against a confident Kolkata side captained by India's Shreyas Iyer when the two teams meet on Wednesday night at the DY Patil stadium for Match No 6 of the ongoing Indian T20 Cricket League 2022.
While Kolkata crushed the four-time title winners and defending champions Chennai in the first match of the tournament by 6 wickets and 1.3 overs to spare, Bangalore lost against Punjab in a high-scoring contest played at the same venue a few nights ago.
All of Bangalore’s batsmen chipped in with vital contributions led by their captain du Plessis, who scored a fluent 88 whereas former skipper V Kohlii managed to reach 41 not out while Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat also impressively carried out their roles.
But Bangalore bowlers could not contain or stop Punjab batsmen from going past the finish line, as the Mayank Agarwal-led team finished their chase with 6 balls to spare through some excellent power hitting.
Before the first match at this venue, not a lot was known or understood about the nature of the pitch but given how it behaved in the clash between Bangalore and Punjab, the strip at the DY Patil Stadium can be expected to be batting-friendly while not supporting any type of bowlers upfront.
The ball seemed to be coming nicely on to the bat right from the start of the clash between Bangalore and Punjab and there was not any excess bounce either, which made the job easier for batsmen from both the teams and a nightmare for the bowlers.
Bangalore certainly would have gone back to the drawing board as they have more information and experience of playing at this pitch compared to Kolkata, who exploited the pace, bounce and movement off the surface at the Wankhede Stadium against Chennai to set up a comfortable victory by 6 wickets.
For Kolkata, it will be a challenge to test their batting line-up as well as bowling strength in different conditions, given that there are plenty of new faces in their ranks including their captain Shreyas Iyer, who made a winning start to his leadership tenure with the two-time title winners.
Kolkata fast bowlers Umesh Yadav and Shivam Mavi were able to exploit conditions and support from the pitch that was on offer at the Wankhede Stadium, but they will have to tinker with their bowling plans as well as line and lengths given that the surface at the DY Patil Stadium has shown assistance only towards batsmen.
