The Royal Challengers Bangalore would have been hurt by the scale of the defeat to the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening match of the IPL 2017 season. All they can do is show they are made of strong stuff, by roaring back with a victory over the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.
Back in the confines of home, RCB will feel much better, even if they would have felt a whole lot better had their two best batsmen – Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers – been fit.
With Kohli definitely out and De Villiers almost certain to sit this match out as well, RCB will need to find their mojo with the bat as they look to trump a don't-know-what-to-expect Delhi Daredevils side.
Here is a prediction of how the match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium could go.
If RCB bat first:
Zaheer Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Chris Morris, Mohammed Shami – doesn't matter, Chris Gayle smashes all of them for sixes and fours as RCB get off to a rollicking start, getting to 67/0 in their first six overs. Mandeep Singh is a mere spectator at the other end as Gaylestorm hits Bengaluru.
Zaheer, knowing Gayle needs to be stopped, throws the ball to his spinners Amit Mishra and Shahbaz Nadeem, but even they can do little as the 37-year-old continues the assault.
Soon, he goes on to complete his century, and with the rest of the batsmen doing what is required at the other end, RCB make 221.
Facing such a stiff target, and having lost two of their best overseas batsmen in JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock out for the season, the Daredevils feels the pressure.
Sam Billings and Rishabh Pant get DD off to a reasonable start, but it's nowhere near good enough, as the away team lose three wickets inside the first eight overs. That becomes five in 11 overs, and by that time the game is done.
If Delhi Daredevils bat first:
Billings and Pant get DD off a fast start, taking the score to 51 in the Powerplay overs. They continue in that same vein, with Billings, in particular, looking really good.
Pant falls to Yuzvendra Chahal, but there is no stopping Billings. Sanju Samson and Karun Nair chip in with 20s, before Carlos Brathwaite comes in and smashes a few sixes to take the first innings score to 198.
A big score from Gayle is needed in the chase and Gayle delivers.
The West Indian takes five balls to get settled, but once he hits his first six, a clean strike straight back past the bowler Shami, the maximums keep coming as the Chinnaswamy crowd go ballistic in delight.
Zaheer tries everything to stop Gayle, but this is the Jamaican's night as RCB thunder their way to victory in the 18th over.
