The Royal Challengers must stamp their authority if they are to avoid another shameful defeat when they take on highflying Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter on Friday.
The Royal Challengers must stamp their authority if they are to avoid another shameful defeat when they take on highflying Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter on Friday. The spotlight will be firmly on Orange cap holder, Glenn Maxwell as well as Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Chris Gayle as the two power-hitters gear up to lead a dazzling array of stroke.
But this year’s IPL has clearly belonged to the Aussie who fell within touching distance of a century for the fourth time in the competition but that was enough to power his team to a comprehensive win over the Chennai Super Kings and take the numero uno spot. This match will be showcase batting royale with the Kings boasting the likes of Virender Sehwag, David Miller, Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey; the Royal Challengers Bangalore will have to rely on Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, A B de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh to pack a punch.
Having lost to Mumbai Indians away in their last game, RCB would not want another defeat in their bag as they look to exploit the home advantage to get back the winning momentum. They would hope that their famed batting line-up fires in unison against the formidable KIXP.
Bangalore has mere six points and is locked with Kolkata Knight Riders in the points table. Chris Gayle has been explosive in his short stints at the crease and is looking for that big elusive inning that catapults RCB at the front. Skipper Kohli has appeared off-colour in the last few games as well as Yuvraj Singh who has been not lived up to the billing.
RCB’s bowling attack looks balanced with pacer Varun Aaron (11 wickets), Mitchell Starc (9) and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (8) up their ranks. The bowling has to be on the money, if not then the Glenn Maxwell show might just blow them away.
The Kings XI Punjab have all been about Maxwell throughout this tourney. He has been in the form of his life, and he once again exhibited his blistering stroke-making when he blasted a 38-ball 90 against the Chennai Super Kings.
Besides Maxwell, South African David Miller too has been making some handful contributions with the bat while Indian batsmen, Cheteshwar Pujara and Sehwag have would look for more consistency.
Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh, Mitchell Starc, Albie Morkel, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Parthiv Patel, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravi Rampaul, Rilee Rossouw,, Harshal Patel, Vijay Zol, Abu Nechim, Sachin Rana, Shadab Jakati, Sandeep Warrier, Tanmay Mishra, Yogesh Takawale, Yuzwendra Chahal.
Kings XI Punjab: George Bailey (captain), David Miller, Manan Vohra, Virender Sehwag, Mitchell Johnson, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shaun Marsh, Wriddhaman Saha, Thisara Perera, Glenn Maxwell, Rishi Dhawan, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Akshar Patel, Beuran Hendricks, Karanveer Singh, Murali Kartik, Shivam Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Laxmipathy Balaji, Parvinder Awana, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Mandeep Singh.
