Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants - IPL 2022 Match 20: Who Will Win?

Rajasthan Royals Team Preview

The Rajasthan Royals currently sit third in the table having amassed four crucial points. Their performance for their three matches so far gives them a Net Run Rate of +1.218. However, they hit their first snag as the Royal Challengers Bangalore handed them their first loss in the 2022 tournament in Match 13.

It took a while for the Royals to get into their swing against the Challengers after leaking 48 runs in the Powerplay. While the performance for the majority of the bowlers gave them an economy around the 10.00 mark, Yuzvendra Chahal was by far the saving grace for the Royals. Chahal only conceded 15 runs while taking two wickets in his four overs to give him an incredible bowling economy of 3.75. With these two wickets, Chahal now is tied for second place in the 2022 tournament for most wickets taken at 7.

There are three standout players from the Royals’ batting department, and we have to start with superstar Jos Buttler. He scored 70 runs from 47 balls (not out), including six 6’s. Buttler claims a couple top spots in the tournament currently for most total runs (205) and batting average (102.50), and is also the only player to get a century. If you are considering IPL betting , Buttler seems like a strong choice to back for the top batsmen market.

Youngsters Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer were the other two players to pack on the runs for the Royals at a combined total of 79. Padikkal was a key player for the Royals after the early dismissal of Yashasvi Jaiswal from just six balls. Hetmyer took the squad to their final total of 169/3 and got 42 runs from 31 balls (not out). This match, for 21 year old Paddikkal, was his first big performance since joining the Royals this year and we think he could be an interesting player to keep tabs on for a future IPL prediction for top batsman.

Lucknow Super Giants Team Preview

The Lucknow Super Giants sit comfortably near the top of the table in second place. They got off to a bad start in the IPL 2022, however, quickly turned this around and are now going from strength to strength. Their three wins and one loss gives them six points and a Net Run Rate of +0.256. Their last match against the Delhi Capitals turned out to be a bit dramatic in the last few overs, but ultimately it was a good win for the new franchise. The opening partnership between KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock was fruitful as they reached 73 runs together while also putting the pressure on the Capitals. In this match, de Kock took the lead while skipper Rahil took a supporting cameo role.

In the middle order, Evin Lewis and Deepak Hooda struggled to match the momentum from the opening, seen from their strike rates of 38.46 and 84.62 respectively. Despite this underwhelming performance, Hooda is currently tied in fifth place with most total runs at 130 and tied first for scoring two fifties, so perhaps we will see him bounce back for their next match against the Mumbai Indians on Saturday. 22-year-old Ayush Badoni was exactly what the Giants needed at the end, finishing off the batting order in style with a clean 6 and 4 to take the squad over the victory line.

If you are thinking about online cricket betting for this match, there is only one player that should be on your mind. Quinton de Kock showcased his exceptional hitting which deservedly won him the Player of the Match award. This recent score of 80 now puts him in fifth place for highest scores, while overall he ties with Ishan Kishan in second place for most overall runs at 149. De Kock has two more first place entries in the 2022 IPL so far, with two 50’s and nineteen 4’s. We expect to see more great things from him, so he will be our choice for top batsman for the next match.

Now it's time for a look at the bowling side. Ravi Bishnoi was the most economical bowler, having taken two wickets and conceded 22 runs in his four overs. While Avesh Khan is currently second in the IPL 2022 table for most wickets (7), he was unable to add any more to his total. Krishnappa Gowtham was the only other player to take a wicket. If we had to choose a player from the batting site for wagering at IPL betting sites, we would look towards Bishnoi as he is performing consistently well.

Toss Prediction

The trend for the IPL this year can be summarised in three simple parts; win the toss, bowl first, and use the dew. This winning formula has only been upended by a handful of franchises, showcasing a delightful display to prove that batting first isn’t a death sentence. With the majority of the matches starting in the evening, the dew still remains one of the biggest threats - or advantages! - depending on which order you are playing. We are still yet to see a captain to choose to bat first, so we are quite confident with our toss prediction that we will see the team to win the toss field first.

Pitch Conditions

This is the fifth match in the tournament to take place at Wankhede Stadium. If we cast our memories back to the first four games, we haven’t seen any particular standout scores despite the shorter boundaries. We saw the lowest winning score from the Kolkata Knight Riders with 133/4 in Match 1, while the highest winning score was in Match 13 from the Royal Challengers Bangalore with 173/6.

Both teams have played at Wankhede, with the Lucknow Super Giants reaching a score of 158/6 and 169/3 for the Rajasthan Royals. Therefore, if the defending team reached a score between 160-170, we imagine they would feel fairly confident, although it could certainly be a close match. The pitch is supposedly batter-friendly, however, Shreyas Iyer made a previous comment that he was surprised that the wicket was not flat and spongier than anticipated.

We can expect to see aggressive strike bowlers dominate in the Powerplay to take some quick and early wickets. This will hopefully be enough to balance out any damage that the batters could do as the game progresses.