The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the match 27 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday. It will be their first game against each other in IPL sixth edition.
Overview:
RCB are kings at home as far as the ongoing IPL is concerned, winning all the four matches played at home played this season and losing their two away fixtures. They are the only team that has gone to Super Over twice after the matches were tied. Almost all the matches involving them were tight, keeping cricket lovers on the edge of their seats. The big hitters of the team will be expected to fire again on Saturday and entertain the home crowd.
RR are very much like its captain Rahul Dravid, who didn't get the due recognition he deserved despite his wonderful career. They are perhaps the most under-rated and disciplined team in IPL. They are placed on the top half of the table with eight points after winning four of the five matches played so far. They will be pushed to the top of the table if they win on Saturday.
Previous Meetings:
RCB and RR have met on 10 occasions in the past, with the former winning five and the latter four, while one game was abandoned due to bad weather.
Team News:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: One of the big hitters from the team performs in every game, which is turning out to be their strength. It's either Chris Gayle or Virat Kohli or Ab De Villiers who ensure that the team put up a good total. It was skipper Kohli (65) and Villiers (39) rose up to the occasion in the previous match after the danger man, Gayles was out for just 13 runs.
In the bowling department, they have bowlers like Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Rampaul, Murali Kartik and Muttiah Muralidaran at their disposal.
Rajasthan Royals: Consistency is the main strength of RR. Skipper Rahul Dravid's form is a plus point, and opener Ajinkya Rahane has been solid at the crease. They also have Shane Watson, Dishant Yagnik, Stuart Binny and Brad Hodge in the batting line-up. The top-order amassed 179 runs in the last match against the Mumbai Indians, and Dravid had to watch his men bat. They will take the winning spirit to the next game.
The performance of the bowlers has been impressive so far with Kevon Cooper, Sreesanth, Siddharth Trivedi, James Faulkner and Stuart Binny leading the attack. They bowled out the Mumbai Indians for 92 in 18.2 overs in the last match, which was a good effort considering the fact that they scored 209 in one of the matches. They will be keen to take early wickets against the RCB.
SQUADS:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (captain), AB De Villiers, Abhimanyu Mithun, Abhinav Mukund, Andrew McDonald, Arun Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Chris Gayle, Christopher Barnwell, Daniel Christian, Daniel Vettori, Harshal Patel, Jaidev Unadkat, K P Appanna, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, Moises Henriques, Murali Kartik, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pankaj Singh, Prasanth Parameswaran, R Vinay Kumar, Ravi Rampaul, Rudra Pratap Singh, S Aravind, Sandeep Warrier, Saurabh Tiwary, Sheldon Jackson, Sunny Sohal, Syed Mohammad, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Vijay Zol, Zaheer Khan
Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan, Ashok Menaria, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Dishant Yagnik, Fidel Edwards, Harmeet Singh, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Kumar Boresha, Kushal Janith Perera, Owais Shah, Pravin Tambe, Rahul Shukla, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Sachin Baby, Samuel Badree, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Shreevats Goswami, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Vikramjeet Malik
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 8:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
