Last Updated on 3 weeks by Charbel Coorey

LSG vs RCB Dream11 Prediction & Fan2Play Possible 11 Pitch Report: IPL 2022 Match 31 | LKN vs BLR Dream11 Prediction Today | Lucknow Super Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Key Players | DY Patil Pitch Report

A cracking all-top four contest awaits us on this Tuesday. Lucknow Super Giants, in their first ever season, continue to produce the goods, with their latest effort an easy victory over Mumbai Indians. For Royal Challengers Bangalore, it has been the DK show, with Dinesh Karthik showcasing just how he’s like a fine wine. He certainly does keep getting better with age.

It’s set up for a riveting contest between Lucknow’s yorker exponents and RCB’s firing middle order. Such a sentence is refreshing for RCB, as the middle order is an area they have struggled in over the years. Now, the calls are growing louder for the top order to do more. Quite the change indeed.

In terms of RCB’s bowlers, they will have a bit to contend with. KL Rahul made his grand arrival to IPL 2022 with a century over the weekend, and he comes up against one of his favourite opponents today. Their all-round depth is on show at the moment, with the likes of Marcus Stoinis and Jason Holder adding balance to a long batting lineup and wicket-taking bowling attack.

There is a great incentive for both teams to solidify their place in the top four.

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Possible Playing 11

Lucknow should stick with the same XI, provided there are no injury or illness concerns.

Lucknow Super Giants: 1. KL Rahul (c), 2. Quinton de Kock (wk), 3. Manish Pandey, 4. Deepak Hooda, 5. Marcus Stoinis, 6. Ayush Badoni, 7. Jason Holder, 8. Krunal Pandya, 9. Dushmantha Chameera, 10. Avesh Khan, 11. Ravi Bishnoi

Harshal Patel made a return to the RCB team. Patel at his best adds so much to the RCB attack.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1. Faf du Plessis (c), 2. Anuj Rawat/Mahipal Lomror, 3. Virat Kohli, 4. Glenn Maxwell, 5. Shahbaz Ahmed, 6. Suyash Prabhudessai, 7. Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8. Wanindu Hasaranga, 9. Harshal Patel, 10. Mohammed Siraj, 11. Josh Hazlewood

Key Players to Watch/Key Stats

Lucknow Super Giants:

• KL Rahul is coming off a century and now meets a team whom he has a magnificent record against: 10 inns, 501 runs, avg. 83.50, SR 151.36. He as a superb record against Siraj (51 off 27, no dismissal), Harshal (30 off 16, no dismissal) and Hazlewood (22 off 15, no dismissal).
• Quinton de Kock also had a strong record vs RCB: 9 inns, 362 runs, avg. 40.22, SR 144.22. He has scored 40 runs off 31 deliveries vs Harshal. Also, he scored 80 on this ground earlier this season.
• Deepak Hooda has struck two fifties in six matches so far this season, and has helped continue the momentum throughout the innings for LSG.
• Marcus Stoinis has terrific numbers against RCB. In six innings, he has struck 132 runs at an average of 44.00 and strike rate of 160.98. He has struck 22 off nine balls vs Siraj (no dismissal), but his battle with Harshal will be interesting (one dismissal in three deliveries).
• Can Jason Holder help keep RCB’s firing middle order quiet? He has taken six wickets in four matches so far in IPL 2022, but is conceding 9.25 per over. Whether he can nail those yorkers will be key against a team whom he takes a wicket every 11 deliveries against.
• LSG could look to use Holder against Kohli. The seamer has dismissed Virat twice in 10 deliveries in the IPL, whilst conceding just nine runs. He also has performed well vs Faf du Plessis in T20 franchise cricket: 17 balls, 22 runs conceded, one dismissal.
• At the time of writing, Avesh Khan has the third-most wickets in IPL 2022 (11). He has taken five wickets in the powerplay and five at the death this season.
• Avesh has figures of 1/21 in 19 deliveries vs du Plessis, 1/5 in eight deliveries vs Kohli and 1/2 in nine deliveries vs Dinesh Karthik.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

• Faf du Plessis has scored just 66 runs in five matches since his 88 to start the season. If he can bat deep, LSG could be in trouble as he strikes at 140+ between overs 12-16 and over 200 in the death overs.
• The wait continues for Virat Kohli to produce his best form as he is averaging just 23.80 so far this season. While he has been dismissed twice by Holder in the IPL, he has a great record against him in T20Is, where he has taken 57 wickets off 26 deliveries.
• Glenn Maxwell has made a positive start to IPL 2022 (89 runs, avg. 44.50, SR 189.36). He has good numbers against LSG’s bowlers: 32 runs off 21 deliveries against Holder (one dismissal), 16 off 17 vs Chameera (no dismissal), 16 off nine vs Avesh (no dismissal), 22 off eight vs Bishnoi (no dismissal) and 108 off 83 vs Krunal (two dismissals).
• Dinesh Karthik has won three matches for RCB this season. His 197 runs come at an incredible strike rate of 209.57.
• Wanindu Hasaranga has taken the third-most wickets in IPL 2022 (11). Nine of his 11 wickets have been right-handers. LSG have just the one left-hander in their top seven, so Hasaranga will be a factor.
• Harshal Patel will be key in limiting LSG at the death. He concedes less than 10 an over in this stage in the IPL at an average of around 10.
• Josh Hazlewood was outstanding against DC (3/28), where he continued his brilliant T20 form since the start of 2021 (46 wickets in 29 matches). He will be key in the powerplay, especially as he has dismissed de Kock twice in 27 deliveries in T20s (37 runs).

Other Stats and Facts

• RCB could look to use Wanindu Hasaranga in the powerplay to KL Rahul. The legspinner has dismissed Rahul once in 12 deliveries, whilst conceding 14 runs.
• They could also look at using Glenn Maxwell. The off-spinner has dismissed KL Rahul twice in 18 deliveries, conceding just 20 runs in the process.
• Ravi Bishnoi to be kept for Dinesh Karthik? Karthik has scored just 42 runs in 47 deliveries against right-arm wrist-spin since the start of IPL 2020, with seven dismissals in 14 innings.
• Also, Krunal Pandya has figures of 2/24 in 28 deliveries vs Dinesh Karthik in the IPL.
• Mohammed Siraj took two crucial wickets vs DC (Shaw and Pant) and he will be tasked with doing the same today. He has dismissed Quinton de Kock once in 14 deliveries in the IPL, whilst conceding just 16.
• Shahbaz Ahmed has been outstanding in IPL 2022: 4 inns, 145 runs, avg. 48.33, SR 154.25.

DY Patil Pitch Report and Weather

The average first innings score at DY Patil this season is 171.9. The team batting first has won four of 10 matches on this ground in IPL 2022, so chasing isn’t always advantageous. However, with some dew expected, the captain who wins the toss is likely to bowl first.

Dream11 Prediction

Note: The below teams are not based on the final playing XIs. We may not be able to update these in time. Use the stats and commentary in this article as well as your own instincts to create your teams.

Option 1:

Option 2:

Fan2Play Prediction

Base team:

• Wicket-keepers: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Dinesh Karthik
• Batsmen: Faf du Plessis
• All-rounders: Jason Holder, Glenn Maxwell
• Bowlers: Avesh Khan, Wanindu Hasaranga

Match Prediction

Two evenly-matched teams makes this an intriguing match. Chasing could prove key here, so the team batting first needs to muster 180+ to feel in the game.

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