Last Updated on 6 years by Charbel Coorey
The beauty of IPL 2018 is that the table is not an indication of results we’ll see, as Harsha Bogle rightly described in a recent tweet. Last night, it was Mumbai Indians who kept their season alive with a win over one of the top sides (KXIP) away from home. Tonight, RCB will be trying to do the same against CSK in a quest to close the gap on fourth placed KKR.
Like RCB, Chennai Super Kings rely significantly on their batting, and this was on show at Eden Gardens when a score of under 180 was nowhere near enough, given how they are bowling at the moment. They come into this game losing two of their last three, and in these three games, they have managed to take just 11 wickets. Against a good RCB batting team, who will have AB de Villiers back, they need their bowlers to step up to complement their strong batting effort right throughout IPL 2018 so far.
Royal Challengers Bangalore would have been disappointed with CSK’s performance two nights ago, as it meant KKR increased their gap over them to four points in the race for the playoffs. RCB will now be hoping CSK put in a similar performance, but more importantly, they’ll need to repeat the excellent bowling effort they showed against MI. That performance even had their critics praising them, but can they prove it wasn’t a one-off?
It promises to be another high scoring clash, just like the previous meeting between the two sides, and I can’t wait.
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| Both captains have key roles to play for their respective teams |
Key to a Chennai Super Kings win
CSK have the opportunity to get RCB crashing back down to earth after an encouraging win v MI. Their batting has delivered right throughout the campaign so far, and one thinks that if they get going here, RCB will find it very difficult to reign them in, even with the addition of Tim Southee.
CSK have scored at 9.58 an over in IPL 2018, which increases to over 12 in the death overs, the best of any side in the tournament to date. Against MI, each of their top four batsmen crossed 20, with none reaching 40. If the likes of Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu can fire, and set the platform for the amazing MS Dhoni to come in and do what he does best, CSK can either set or chase a massive score.
Key to a Royal Challengers Bangalore win
Looking at the two sides on paper, as well as how they have performed in the tournament, RCB’s batting will keep them in the game. However, they desperately need to back up their last bowling effort, where they defended 167.
A score of 167 will probably not be enough here, but the return of AB de Villiers, as well as Colin de Grandhomme as a strong finisher are huge pluses for RCB. Also a plus is the form of Tim Southee, who put in a man of the match performance v MI, who was backed up by his teammates.
Can the bowling attack hold their own against a strong CSK batting line up?
Possible teams
Despite defeat at Eden Gardens, expect CSK to stick with the same team.
Chennai Super Kings XI: 1. Shane Watson, 2. Ambati Rayudu, 3. Suresh Raina, 4. MS Dhoni (c & wk), 5. Ravindra Jadeja, 6. Dwayne Bravo, 7. Harbhajan Singh, 8. Shardul Thakur, 9. Imran Tahir, 10. Lungi Ngidi, 11. KM Asif
Quinton de Kock won’t play for RCB as he has flown back home to attend a wedding. AB de Villiers will return from illness, which will be a straight swap for QdK in terms of the fourth overseas player in the team. Parthiv Patel could play his first game and have the wicketkeeping gloves.
Royal Challengers Bangalore XI: 1. Parthiv Patel (wk), 2. Brendon McCullum, 3. Virat Kohli (c), 4. AB de Villiers, 5. Mandeep Singh, 6. Colin de Grandhomme, 7. Washington Sundar, 8. Tim Southee, 9. Umesh Yadav, 10. Yuzvendra Chahal, 11. Mohammed Siraj
Stats and Facts:
- Head-to-Head: Matches: 21, CSK 13, RCB 7, No result 1
- Among the four bowlers who bowled their full four overs for RCB v MI, the most expensive was Umesh Yadav, who went for just 7.25 an over.
- CSK have scored 200+ four times in nine matches in IPL 2018. RCB have conceded 200+ three times in eight matches.
- MS Dhoni has lost the toss in CSK’s last six games at Pune! Expect them to be batting first!
- RCB have won four out of five IPL matches at Pune.
Prediction
This promises to be a quality clash, given that I like what I am seeing from RCB in recent times with the ball. However, despite CSK’s struggles with the ball themselves, I think they have enough players right throughout their order to cause damage to RCB, and they’ll come away with the win. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was wrong, though!
