Kings XI Punjab, after a near-perfect game against the Rising Pune Supergiant, will look to make it two wins out of two in IPL 2017 when they host the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Indore on Monday.
Any doubts over Glenn Maxwell's ability as captain, and the adverse effect it might have on his batting, was laid to rest, at least for now, after an impressive performance from KXIP in their opening Indian Premier League match.
How well will Maxwell and co. do in their second match of IPL 2017?
Well, they won't have it easy, considering RCB are coming off a win as well and could have their superstar AB De Villiers back in the lineup.
Here is how the IPL 2017 Match 8 could go.
If Kings XI Punjab bat first:
Eoin Morgan comes into the playing XI, so Glenn Maxwell decides to open the batting for Kings XI Punjab with Manan Vohra. While the latter falls early, to Tymal Mills, Maxwell is in the mood and the Australian and Wriddhiman Saha put on 68 runs together, to build a really good base for a final assault.
Saha is dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal, with Morgan coming in to score a quick 28.
Maxwell, still at the crease, then joins hands with Miller.
The last time these two batted together, they guided KXIP to victory over RPS, and this time, they give their bowlers a big score to defend.
Plenty of sixes and fours rain in as KXIP manage to reach 191 in their 20 overs.
Buoyed by that big patting performance, the Kings XI bowlers start with a lot of venom, dismissing Chris Gayle early, which means the West Indian is made to wait to get to 10,000 runs in T20 cricket.
But, that bite is taken off them by AB De Villiers (if De Villiers doesn't play, let's go with Travis Head), who looks in sublime touch from the off, smashing the bowlers to all corners of the ground, with those Mr.360 skills on full view.
The Indore crowd, supposed to be supporting the "home" team KXIP, chant "ABD, ABD, ABD," as the South African lights up the Holkar Stadium like only he can.
When De Villiers is in this kind of mood, it doesn't matter what the score is, doesn't matter who the opposition is – RCB get to their target.
If RCB bat first:
De Villiers walks in with Chris Gayle, with Shane Watson dropping down the order, and that looks like a good move as the South African and West Indian duo blaze a trail of boundaries and sixes, taking RCB to 62/0 in the first six overs – with it, Gayle also becomes the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in T20 cricket.
RCB, however, lose two quick wickets right after the Powerplay, including the one of Gayle, but with De Villiers still at the crease, the total looks set to be a big one.
De Villiers and the in-form batsman Kedar Jadhav get together for a nice partnership, which propels RCB all the way to 188.
Vohra, again, fails to temper his aggression, and plays too many strokes too quickly, which leads to his wicket in the third over. Maxwell (If Hashim Amla keeps his place, then Amla it will be, with Morgan then turning into Maxwell. Yup, confusing, isn't it) and Saha add 30 runs together, but the chase still doesn't quite have the impetus, with the second wicket falling when the KXIP wicketkeeper slashes at one outside off-stump, only to find the man at deep point.
Morgan comes in and almost immediately there is a change in tempo. The left-hander brings his reverse-sweep out, the slog sweep is also used to good effect and Maxwell joins the party as well, with a couple of big hits.
The equation reads 108 required from the final ten overs. That is brought down to 64 from 36 balls by Maxwell and Morgan, before both batsmen lose their wickets in quick succession.
Miller and Marcus Stoinis has to do the job, and they do it pretty well, knocking down the 14 runs needed in the final over, after Mills had kept RCB in the game with a brilliant penultimate over, to give Kings XI their second consecutive win in IPL 2017.
