A cricket match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium means the chasing team will win more often than not. So, it goes without saying that the toss will have a big say when the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indians meet in a crucial game of IPL 2016.
RCB and MI are still desperately seeking victories to try and finish in the top four after slow starts to the season. This match is likely to be decided by who bowls better on a ground where runs come quite easily.
Here is a prediction of RCB vs MI.
If RCB bat first: Chris Gayle comes back into the lineup and the West Indian walks out with KL Rahul to open the innings. While Rahul falls to Mitchell McClenaghan, Gayle looks in the mood, smashing three consecutive fours in one over. With Virat Kohli looking in good touch, RCB jump to 56/1 in the six Powerplay overs. However, Gayle falls soon after to Harbhajan Singh, but Kohli is there to keep RCB chugging along with AB De Villiers coming in and setting up a nice partnership with his RCB captain. The duo turns on the accelerator in the final six overs, with that onslaught taking RCB to 197.
Parthiv Patel is the man to smash the early boundaries, as the little left-hander races to 30 from 18 balls, before falling to Shane Watson in the fifth over. Rohit, though, continues at the other end, even after Ambati Rayudu falls for a single digit score. Jos Buttler finds his touch at the right time, forging a big partnership with Rohit, who eventually goes for 63. Buttler is the man to lead MI to victory and with plenty of help from Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya, the Englishman does just that, as MI chase down the big total in the final over of the match.
If MI bat first: Rohit Sharma creams a boundary through the covers off the first ball of the match, but that is all she wrote for the right-hander, who falls off the next delivery to Stuart Binny, a healthy edge carrying through to the wicketkeeper Rahul. Parthiv is also dismissed after a quickfire 17, leaving Ambati Rayudu and Jos Buttler to repair the innings. Repair it they do, as the two right-handers ally for 79 runs in a little under nine overs. That sets up the game for Kieron Pollard to show his power, and with the Chinnaswamy boundary lines no match for the big man, Mumbai Indians finish on 192.
Rahul falls in the second over of the chase, but this is the game where Gayle finally finds his touch. There is no stopping the big man as the Bengaluru crowd are treated to six after six off that big blade of his. Kohli is happy to play second fiddle as Gayle takes off like only he can, reaching his 50 in 21 balls. He doesn't stop there, and soon enough, he is on 84 from 42, before Harbhajan finally gets him. However, thanks to that Gayle storm, Kohli and AB De Villiers are left needing 47 off the final five overs, with ABD taking over in style to finish the match off in the 19th over.
