The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Saturday. It is the 70th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 and the second meeting for the teams.
Overview:
CSK have secured their place for the Playoffs but RCB's chance of making to the last four is bleak following Sunrisers Hyderababd's win on Friday but their chance is not completely over yet. CSK had defeated RCB in their previous meeting earlier this season.
RCB are still not completely out of the contention for the Playoffs despite seven wicket lost to Kings XI Punjab in the previous match. They need to beat CSK on Saturday to stay alive in the competition. However, their chance of entering the Playoffs depends on the performance of Sunrisers Hyderabad in their next game. They are currently placed fifth in the table with 16 points after winning eight of the 15 games played so far.
CSK have qualified for the Playoffs. They are currently placed second in the table with 22 points from 11 wins. They beat Delhi Daredevils by 33 runs in the previous at the back of a shocking lost to Rajasthan Royals. They will be keen to keep the momentum going by winning the last league match of the season.
Previous Meetings:
CSK have 8-5 win-loss record against RCB in their 13 meetings till date. They defeated Bangalore franchise by four wickets in their encounter earlier this season.
Team News:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Chris Gayle (77) and Virat Kohli (57) helped the team amass a total of 174 in the previous game which they lost. Ab De Villiers is in good for, and batsmen like Cheteshwar Pujara, Saurabh Tiwary and Moises Henriques are there to chip in with their bats. They are one of the strongest batting sides in the tournament but bowling failure has cost them a few games.
On the bowling front, they have Vinay Kumar Jaydev Unadkat, RP Singh, Ravi Rampaul, Murali Kartik and Muttiah Muralidaran in the side but their performance this season is far from impressive. They failed to defend some big totals posted by the batsmen, which could hurt the whole team. In a disparate attempt to fix the problem, veteran paceman Zaheer Khan was introduced in the last match despite not recovering fully from an injury. The bowlers need to pull up their socks and deliver the goods.
Chennai Super Kings: Skipper MS Dhoni (58), Michael Hussey (26) and Murali Vijay (31) helped the team project a total of 168 in the previous match. They will expected to performance on Saturday and provide room for Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja to play their natural game and add some quick runs towards the end.
Albie Morkel took three wickets, while Ravichandran Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo and Mohit Sharma took two wickets apiece in the previous match, helping the team defend a decent total. They also have Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Ankit Rajpoot, and Jason Holder in the bowling attack.
Prediction:
RCB conceded their first home defeat in the previous match, otherwise they had a good record at their ground this season. CSK have emerged as one of the favourite teams to lift the title this season but given the circumstance, RCB will pull up all they have to stay alive in the competition. Virat Kohli's men should on Saturday.
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
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (C), Albie Morkel, Srikkanth Anirudha, Ankit Rajpoot, Baba Aparajith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Dwayne Bravo, Francois du Plessis, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jason Holder, Michael Hussey, Mohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Nuwan Kulasekara, R Karthikeyan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ronit More, Shadab Jakati, Subramaniam Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha
Where to Watch Live
The match will begin at 8:00 pm IST and will be telecast live on Sony Set Max channel.
