Published: Apr 23, 2019, 05:01 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 23, 2019, 05:01 PM (IST)
With back-back-back victories, the recent coming in an edge-of-the-seat thriller against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), still languishing at the bottom of the table, host Kings XI Punjab in match 42 of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in on Wednesday.
Having survived a brutal assault at the hands of MS Dhoni in their previous game, Virat Kohli will ensure that they pull out all stops to seal a hat-trick of wins and keep slim chances of making it to the playoffs alive.
The homeside can take heart from the fact that their batting stalwarts – Kohli and AB de Villiers – both who did not click against CSK, registered match-winning knocks in the reverse fixture, an unbeaten 59 by de Villiers and 67 by Kohli when they met in the first leg.
Punjab will equally be itching to get back to winning ways specially after losing their last match to the Delhi Capitals, which now sees the Ravichandran Ashwin-led outfit in the fifth place with five wins and as many losses. (CHECK OUT: POINTS TABLE)
Punjab would want to consolidate their position in the points table with the help of hard-hitting West Indian Chris Gayle, KL Rahul and David Miller – all of whom will be looking to capitalise on RCB’s weak bowling.
With RCB finding the momentum rather belatedly, it remains to be seen how long they can carry the momentum with a powerful Punjab side breathing down their necks. Let’s wait and watch!
What: Match 42, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab
When: April 24 (Wednesday)
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Time: 8 pm IST
On TV: Star Network (in India)
Weather: Sunny skies with a maximum high of 35 degrees Celsius
You can also follow LIVE coverage of the match on CricketCountry (Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab: SCORECARD)
Teams
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB always had a great batting line-up, it was their bowling that had an issue. That has seemed to have received some temporary treatment with the arrival of Dale Steyn, but their bowling department still cannot be trusted and was exposed once again against CSK when Dhoni almost pulled off the impossible chasing 162, needing 26 runs off the last over bowled by Umesh Yadav. However, Kohli has not made much changes to his squad and looks certain to go ahead with the same XI. (ALSO READ: Dhoni gave us all a massive scare: RCB skipper Kohli)
Probable XI: 1. Parthiv Patel (wk), 2. Virat Kohli (captain), 3. AB de Villiers, 4. Akshdeep Nath, 5. Marcus Stoinis, 6. Moeen Ali, 7. Pawan Negi, 8. Umesh Yadav, 9. Dale Steyn, 10. Navdeep Saini, 11. Yuzvendra Chahal
Kings XI Punjab
The pace-spin duo of Mohammed Shami and R Ashwin has been KXIP’s best bowlers and the team would expect them to come up with another good show. Among others, Ankit Rajpoot, Sam Curran, Hardus Viljoen and Andrew Tye will also be looking to provide depth to the Kings XI bowling. Keeping in mind the Chinnaswamy surface, KXIP may opt to go in with Rajpoot instead of Harpreet Brar.
Probable XI: 1. Chris Gayle, 2. KL Rahul (wk), 3. Mayank Agarwal, 4. David Miller, 5. Mandeep Singh, 6. Sam Curran, 7. Ravichandran Ashwin (captain), 8. Harpreet Brar/Ankit Rajpoot, 9. Hardus Viljoen, 10. Murugan Ashwin, 11. Mohammed Shami
Head-to-head
Number of times played: 23
RCB wins: 11
KXIP wins: 12
No result and tie: 0
Quotes
“We have said a lot of things in the nine games. But if you don’t have confidence, none of those things matter. In the last couple of games, we just said go out there and do your thing. In T20 cricket, you are going to be put under the pump. It’s how well you bounce back that matters.” Virat Kohli, RCB captain
“We have played quite well in the 10 games, won a few and lost a few. This tournament is all about stringing wins together and we need to catch the momentum now.” Ravichandran Ashwin, KXIP captain
