IPL 2024 RR vs RCB Eliminator: Trent could dent the prospects of Bengaluru

Trent Boult might not be playing international cricket often, but when it comes to shining on the biggest stage, he is one of the best in the business. With the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 approaching for his team Rajasthan Royals (RR) against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Boult would once again be the go-to man for skipper Sanju Samson, mainly for the reason that in big games, he is a different beast altogether.

Thunder-Boult in the finals

Dismissal Rate (DR) is the number of balls taken to dismiss a player. The DR of Boult in non-final games of the IPL is 19.9 across 92 games ever since he made his debut. His Economy Rate (ER) is 8.4 in that same period. However, when it comes to finals, it improves steeply as DR goes as low as 16.5 and ER to nearly one run less per over at 7.4.

RR Bowler	IPL Group Stages			IPL Final Stages
	Innings	ER	DR	Innings	ER	DR
Trent Boult	92	8.4	19.9	9	7.4	16.5
Yuzvendra Chahal	148	7.9	16.7	9	7.3	21.6
Ravi Ashwin	184	7.1	25.2	22	7.5	24.2

Equally opposite numbers for Virat Kohli

While Boult is thunderous in the IPL finals, Virat Kohli, who is going to be his major target in the Eliminator, has equally opposite records. He averages 40 in the 229 innings of non-final games and strikes at 132. But when it comes to finals, his average goes down to 25.7 and his strike rate to 120. Two other major RCB batters, Faf Du Plessis and Dinesh Karthik, also performed poorly in the finals compared to non-final games in the IPL.

RCB Batter	IPL Group Stages			IPL Final Stages
	Innings	SR	Ave	Innings	SR	Ave
Virat Kohli	229	132	40.1	14	120	25.7
Dinesh Karthik	213	137	23.4	17	112	18.1
Faf du Plessis	123	137	39.8	14	131	28.7

With the match-up not in favour of Boult otherwise against Kohli, the 35-year-old would hope to make the best use of his final form at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.