Analysis for the match.

This could be an absolute belter of a match between two extremely strong teams, each with realistic play-off aspirations. Both sides contain the ability to win matches down the order due to the strength-in-depth within each batting line-up, not to mention the individual quality within the bowling units of both Lucknow and RCB. Ultimately though, when taking into account the brilliance of KL Rahul alongside Quinton de Kock as his opening partner and Avesh Khan’s potency with the ball in particular, consider backing Lucknow Super Giants to edge past RCB.

Must see points.

1). LSG has a better top order in terms of current form

2). Both teams have won four out of the six matches that they have played this season

3). RCB's bowling is a bit better on paper but LSG has also done well in this respect

Head to Heads.

No head to heads for two teams.

Match predictions: LSG to win the match.

1). If LSG won the toss and opted to bowl first, RCB could score 170-190 runs.

2). If RCB won the toss and opted to bowl first. LSG could score 160-180 runs.

Secondary Predictions.

1). KL Rahul total runs - over 24.5 runs.

KL Rahul hit his first century of the season in Lucknow Super Giants’ last match. The skipper is a strong choice for their highest run scorer in this game.

2). Dinesh Kartik total runs - over 20.5 runs.

Although Dinesh Karthik is RCB’s leading run scorer so far in the tournament, we fancy Virat Kohli to produce his first half-century and be their highest run scorer in this match.

3). Wanindu Hasaranga to pick 2 or more wickets.

Wanindu Hasaranga has been one of the standout spinners in this IPL edition despite the wickets not assisting the spinner and he has had the ability to change games with his wicket-taking abilities. The leggie has taken 11 wickets in six games so far and is at the fifth position in the race for the Purple Cap this year. 

Match Preview.

LSG won its previous match against MI thanks to a brilliant century from KL Rahul. He is in good form and has been getting the big scores that his team needs. The batting for LSG has also been strengthened by the addition of Marcus Stoinis to the lineup. We have only seen glimpses from Stoinis so far but make no mistake, this is one player that can make a match-winning impact at any stage of the game.

Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, and Jason Holder are all dangerous batters and help form a strong lineup. Apart from Rahul and de Kock, there are no big T20 names in the lineup and this lack of batting firepower is somewhat reflected in the stats.

Only 39 sixes have been hit by LSG in IPL 2022 so far, seventh out of ten teams, and it does appear that you can bet against them in the 'Most Sixes' betting market.

The bowling attack for LSG is not the most convincing. We rate Ravi Bishnoi very highly and he is always difficult to score off but he is not getting too many wickets. Avesh Khan has picked up 11 wickets, the most for any LSG bowler but he is expensive and we think a good batting lineup could really make him pay.

Dushmanth Chameera, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, and Jason Holder round off a decent bowling attack but this is not an attack that is going to worry any good batting side. Krunal Pandya's record against Virat Kohli is quite good and that might be one match-up to watch out for.

RCB owes a vast majority of its success to Dinesh Karthik at the moment. There is no Indian player that is performing the role of a finisher better than him in IPL 2022. In fact, out of all players, maybe Shimron Hetmyer is the only other batsman that can claim to be doing as good a job as Dinesh Karthik.

Dinesh Karthik has been out just once so far, has scored 197 runs with 14 sixes, and is striking at a rate of over 200. That is just insane.

The reason we are talking so much about him, though, is that Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli, and Anuj Rawat are not performing well at all. Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Dinesh Karthik are the three best batters for the team at the moment.

If you follow form, the betting strategy should be to bet against the RCB top order and put your money on the middle-order scoring runs.

A strong bowling lineup with Josh Hazelwood, Harshal Patel, and Wanindu Hasaranga gives RCb a slight edge in this contest, though. As far as bowling strength goes, RCB is better than LSG for sure.

Match details.

Time - Apr 19th, 07:30 pm, IST.

Venue - Dr. D.Y. Patil Sports Academy - Navi Mumbai, India

Pitch report.

The conditions in Mumbai are not going to change much as far as the weather goes. Thankfully, the same looks to be true for the pitches so far. There has been a lot of bounce and pace for the batsmen to work with allowing attractive strike-play and high-scoring matches.

Team News.

Lucknow Super Gaints>>

After suffering only their second defeat of the season, to Rajasthan Royals on April 10, LSG made one change as they targeted an immediate return to winning ways. Out went Krishnappa Gowtham with Manish Pandey taking his place. Pandey hit 38 runs from 29 balls and we expect him to retain his spot in the side.Lucknow Super Giants have been in excellent form so far in their debut IPL season. After both of their defeats, they have responded with an immediate victory.

Possible XI - KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Ayush Badoni, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi 

Royal Challengers Bangalore>>

Harshal Patel, who had missed the defeat against CSK due to a family bereavement, returned to the side ahead of their victory over Delhi Capitals. Akash Deep, who had conceded 58 runs against CSK missed out. The RCB bowling attack now looks very strong and we do not envisage any changes to the side.After the surprise defeat to CSK on Tuesday, RCB showed plenty of character to return to winning ways against Delhi Capitals. Overall, their form has been very strong in IPL 2022 season.

Possible XI - Faf du Plessis (c), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj