The Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali on Monday. It is the 51st match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 and the first meeting for the teams this season.
Overview:
KXIP are placed in the sixth position with eight points after winning four of the 10 matches played so far. They lost last three consecutive matches. They will be keen to win as they still have a good chance of making it to the final four if they win the remaining matches.
RCB are placed second on the table with 14 points after winning seven of the 11 matches played so far. They won the previous match against the Pune Warriors India by 17 runs. They will be keen to win the next few matches, as they are just a couple of wins away from making it to the Play-Offs.
Previous Meetings:
The teams have met 10 times in the past and have won five matches each.
Team News:
Kings XI Punjab: Shaun Marsh (73) and David Miller (51) played in the previous match, getting so close to chasing down 186 runs put up by CSK. David Hussey and Mandeep Singh are also in good form this season. They can beat any team if the top-order put their acts together.
Parvinder Awana took two wickets while Piyush Chawla took one in the previous match. With the likes of Praveen Kumar, Azhar Mahmood, Harmeet Bansal, Ryan Harris and Manpreet Gony in the bowling line-up, they could have done much better. They will be expected to restrict the total of their opponents.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Top-order of the team put up a big total (187) in the previous match with Saurabh Tiwary and Ab De Villiers scoring half centuries each. Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Moises Henriques also contributed.
On the bowling front, they have Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Ravi Rampaul, Murali Kartik and Muttiah Muralidaran. Kumar took three wickets and Kartik took two in the previous match.
Prediction:
KXIP are a solid team and have home ground advantage but RCB are a more balanced team. Virat Kohli's men should win on Monday.
SQUADS:
Kings XI Punjab: Adam Gilchrist (C), Azhar Mahmood, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, David Hussey, David Miller, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Harmeet Singh Bansal, Luke Pomersbach, Manan Vohra, Mandeep Singh, Manpreet Gony, Nitin Saini, Parvinder Awana, Paul Valthaty, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Rajagopal Sathish, Ryan Harris, Sandeep Sharma, Shaun Marsh, Siddharth Chitnis, Sunny Singh
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
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 8:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
