Time: October 3, 3:30 PM IST
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Pitch report
The average first and second innings scores at Abu Dhabi read 170 and 149 respectively this season. While the highest total is 195, the highest chased is 163. The pitch, however, gets slower in the second innings, as the chasing team has won two of three games
Power players
AB de Villiers is a man of many layers. With him keeping wickets, your chances of collecting extra fantasy points have gone up. He took a catch to his right against Mumbai and was – as always is the case – excellent behind the wickets. With the bat, he hasn’t shown any signs of lack of practice or ageing. He is scoring and running as briskly as ever. His scores read 51, 28, and 55*.
Jofra Archer was sending down fireballs against Kolkata, clocking between 145 and 150 kmph consistently. Even the mighty Andre Russell could not counterattack Archer’s pace. He finished with figures of 2 for 18. In addition, his batting has been a talking point: he has hit as many as 7 sixes in 15 balls. That said, all hell will break loose when he will lock horns with ABD and Virat Kohli – that is some battle to watch out for.
Devdutt Padikkal could not have asked for a better start to his career in the Indian T20 League. He has scored 111 runs with a strike rate of 132, including two fifties.
Sanju Samson and Steven Smith have been the foundation of success for Rajasthan. The duo failed in the match against Kolkata, and Rajasthan faced their first defeat of the season. While Samson has scored 167 runs with a superior strike rate of 201, Smith has collected 122 runs.
Smart picks
With Aaron Finch finally acclimatising to the conditions and finding form, Bangalore’s top order has only gotten stronger. It was his counterattack in the powerplay that propelled Bangalore to a competitive total. However, with so many top cricketers, the fantasy players will have a tough time not only finalising their teams but also narrowing down their power players.
Tom Curran’s bowling has not been impactful enough. He usually does best in pitches that have bounce, but given his progress thus far, it seems he is gradually learning. That said, his fifty against Kolkata is a good sign for Rajasthan. It is an assurance that they can rely on him at No. 7.
Mumbai smashed Yuzvendra Chahal to the pulp in his final spell, but we don’t see that happen often. Chahal is a class-apart spinner who has a knack of outsmarting the best of batsmen with his wily leg-spin. He has so far taken 5 wickets in 3 matches.
A fantasy cricket prediction is incomplete if it does not mention Virat Kohli. The Bangalore captain has been out of sorts of late, but he won’t take long to brush off his shoulders and do what he does best.
Probable 11
Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Adam Zampa, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan: Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Smith (c), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Ankit Rajpoot/Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat
