The IPL Final takes place in Ahmedabad on Sunday when Royal Challengers Bengaluru take on the Gujarat Titans and we pick out a couple of top bat and ball plays
RCB
These two sides met in the first qualifier for the final which was staged at Dharamsala on Tuesday of this week and RCB won that game by all of 92 runs. RCB posted 254/5 batting first with Rajat Patidar unbeaten on 93 and Kohli and Krunal Pandya both made 43. The Titans lost 5 wickets in the first 6 overs of the chase before Rahul Tewatia top scored with 68 and only two other batsmen making it to double figures as they were bowled out for 162. Jacob Duffy claimed 3 Titans wickets and RCB advanced straight to the final.
The regular season saw RCB, the Titans and the Sunrisers all finish on 18 points with a record of 9 wins and 5 defeats and RCB came out top of the standings with the best net run rate. The Titans were runners up and the Sunrisers third with Rajasthan Royals 2 points adrift in fourth. RCB won 4 of their first 5 matches and were always prominent in the standings.
Virat Kohli has scored a total of 600 runs in 15 knocks for RCB in the tournament so far whilst Rajat Patidar (486 from 13) Devdutt Padikkal (463 from 14) are the next best. With the ball Bhuvneshwar Kumar was streets ahead with 26 wickets, the second highest tally in the tournament.
Gujarat Titans
After losing that first qualifier to RCB the Titans had a second bite at the cherry against the Rajasthan Royals at Mullanpur on Friday and they made amends with a 7 wicket win. The Royals posted 214/6 (Holder 2/27, Rabada 2/35) but Sudharsan (58) and Shubman Gill (104) helped the Titans get home in 18.4 overs.
The Titans lost their first 2 matches but had a cracking second half of the regular season to finish second in the standings.
They came up against the Royal Challengers in Bengaluru in Match 34 and they lost by 5 wickets. GT posted 205/3 in that game with Sudharsan scoring 100 but RCB chased it down in 18.4 overs with Kohli top scoring with 81. The second meeting came at this venue in Ahmedabad in Match 42 and the Titans (158/6) beat RCB (155 all out) by 4 wickets.
Shubman Gill has made 722 runs in the tournament, Sudharsan has 710 runs with Jos Buttler third best with 498. Kagiso Rabada has taken 28 wickets and is top of the tournaments bowling charts. Rashid Khan has taken 19 and Siraj 18.
The Verdict
The fourth head to head of the season and RCB lead 2-1 in that regard but the Titans did beat them at this venue which is where they play their home games. RCB start as favourites at ./10 but there isn’t a great deal in it with the Titans trading at around even money.
I’m looking away from the match result for a betting interest which is headlined by Shubman Gill to be the top run scorer for the Royas and Josh Hazlewood is my pick to be RCB’s top bowler
Bets: Top Titans Run Scorer Shubman Gill at 2.15/1 with WSB
Top RCB Wicket Taker Josh Hazlewood at 2.85/1 with WSB
Note, odds are subject to change