An enticing battle is on the cards as a rejuvenated Royal Challengers Bangalore side take on the defending champions Chennai Super Kings at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday night.
The Royal Challengers are coming into this match at home on the back of a superb away victory against Kolkata Knight Riders. The win against Kolkata had many memorable moments for them starting right from Virat Kohli's century to Moeen Ali's all-round show. This was only their second victory of the season and the chances of play-off qualification look quite bleak as well. However, they are in a much better mental state as compared to what they were in three matches back, having lost all of their opening six encounters.
Chennai Super Kings on the other hand have the least of concerns. A play-off spot already looks confirmed for them and they are sitting pretty at the top of the table. Skipper MS Dhoni has mostly banked on the success of his spinners on the home track so far in the season. The last time these two sides met was in the opening encounter of this year.
The Super Kings bowlers had bundled up RCB for just 70 runs and they went on to win the match comprehensively as well. Things will be a little bit different at the Chinnaswamy Stadium as it presents a fabulous track for the batsmen. It remains to be seen how Dhoni marshals his bowling unit here which has mostly condition
An enticing battle is on the cards as a rejuvenated Royal Challengers Bangalore side take on the defending champions Chennai Super Kings at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday night.
The Royal Challengers are coming into this match at home on the back of a superb away victory against Kolkata Knight Riders. The win against Kolkata had many memorable moments for them starting right from Virat Kohli's century to Moeen Ali's all-round show. This was only their second victory of the season and the chances of play-off qualification look quite bleak as well. However, they are in a much better mental state as compared to what they were in three matches back, having lost all of their opening six encounters.
Chennai Super Kings on the other hand have the least of concerns. A play-off spot already looks confirmed for them and they are sitting pretty at the top of the table. Skipper MS Dhoni has mostly banked on the success of his spinners on the home track so far in the season. The last time these two sides met was in the opening encounter of this year.
The Super Kings bowlers had bundled up RCB for just 70 runs and they went on to win the match comprehensively as well. Things will be a little bit different at the Chinnaswamy Stadium as it presents a fabulous track for the batsmen. It remains to be seen how Dhoni marshals his bowling unit here which has mostly condition dependent bowlers. There is a little concern in their batting department too as Shane Watson hasn't really made a mark. But the Chinnaswamy might turn out to be the perfect venue to get a big score to his name.
Weather and Pitch Conditions: Weather is expected to remain absolutely clear. Pitch will be a paradise for batsmen. However, it will provide a little bit of assistance to the spinners.
Player Recommendations:
Wicket-keeper: MS Dhoni (9.5 Cr)
The Super Kings skipper is the best available wicketkeeper-batting option available in this match. He has already scored a couple of match-winning fifties in this season and could play one more if such innings in this match.
Batsman: Faf du Plessis (9 Cr)
Du Plessis averages 117 at Bengaluru and he would want to maintain his good record at the venue. He has three scores of 30-plus on the tournament so far, one of which is a fifty.
All-Rounder: Moeen Ali (9 Cr)
Ali came up with a match-winning all-round performance in the previous match. First, he smashed a quick-fire fifty to change the course if the match and then bowled the last over of the match to defend their total successfully. He can be backed to keep his good run of form going.
Bowler: Imran Tahir (9 Cr)
Tahir is amongst the top wicket-takers of this season do far. Batsmen have found hard to read him and his googlies are extremely deceptive.
Uncapped player: Navdeep Saini (8 Cr)
Saini is the best uncapped option available in this match. He notches up speeds of over 150 kph often and has been amongst the wickets regularly in the past few games. He should do well considering the fact that some of the CSK batsmen are weak against quality pace.
Predicted Playing XI:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (Capt), Moeen Ali, Marcus Stoinis, Heinrich Klaasen/AB de Villiers, Akshdeep Nath, Pawan Negi, Dale Steyn, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (C/wk) , Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir
