The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on Pune Warriors India (PWI) in the match 31 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Tuesday. It will be their first meeting in the ongoing IPL sixth edition.
Overview:
Both the teams have played seven matches so far. RCB are second on the table, next only to Chennai Super Kings by run rate difference, while PWI are at the bottom half of the table.
RCB have 10 points on the table with five wins from seven games. They lost only three wickets while chasing down Rajasthan Royals' score of 117 runs in the previous match. They are strong in all the departments - batting, bowling and fielding - making them one of the favourites to win the competition. They have won all the five games played at home this season.
PWI have four points on the table, winning only two of the seven matches played so far. Their batting line-up is strong with some explosive batsmen but they have failed to convert good start to big scores. They put up a good total in the previous match against the Kings XI Punjab in the previous match but failed to defend.
Previous Meetings:
RCB have met PWI on three occasions in the past, winning all the matches. However, they are pitted against each other for the first time this season.
Team News:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: They have a batting line-up that could intimidate opponents. Tillakaratne Dilshan's performance is not impressive this season but Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Ab De Villiers are in good form. Gayle, Saurabh Tiwary and Dilshan guided the team home in the previous match against RR.
On the bowling front, they have Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Rampaul, Murali Kartik and Muttiah Muralidaran at their disposal. Kumar and Singh took three wickets apiece and Rampaul took two in the previous match, restricting their opponent to a small total of 117 runs.
Pune Warriors India: Openers Aaron Finch and Robin Uthappa are turning into a destructive pair this season. The openers along with Yuvraj Singh and Luke Wright put up 185 runs on the board in their previous match though the Kings XI Punjab chased down the total. Ross Taylor's poor performance is a matter of concern for the team.
In the bowling department, they have Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Mitchell Marsh, Abhishek Nayar, Rahul Sharma and Ajantha Mendis. They managed to take only three wickets in the previous match against KXIP, failing to defend a total of 185 runs. They should pull up their socks and try to restrict opponents from scoring at will.
Prediction:
PWI have big hitters who can beat any team on their day, but given the good form and winning all the home fixtures this season, RCB are favourite to win on Tuesday.
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
Pune Warriors India: Angelo Mathews (c), Aaron Finch, Abhishek Nayar, Ajantha Mendis, Ali Murtaza, Anustup Majumdar, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dheeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Harpreet Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Kane Richardson, Krishnakant Upadhyay, Luke Wright, Mahesh Rawat, Manish Pandey, Marlon Samuels, Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas, Parveez Rasool, Rahul Sharma, Raiphi Gomez, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Shrikant Wagh, Steve Smith, Tirumalasetti Suman, Tamim Iqbal, Udit Birla, Yuvraj Singh, Wayne Parnell
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 4:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
