Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders might have tasted victories in their previous fixtures, but both teams are yet to find a winning formula to keep their campaigns in cruise mode. Tonight's mouthwatering contest at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru allows either side to do just that.
While RCB eked out a 4-wicket win over Punjab Kings, KKR edged past Sunrisers Hyderabad by four runs in a nail-biter. Both teams would be happy to have gotten off the mark in the 17th edition of the cash-rich league but a lot of questions remain unanswered.
RCB aim to overcome top-order woes
After a forgettable outing against the Chennai Super Kings in the tournament opener, Virat Kohli bounced back brilliantly by hitting a match-winning fifty on a testing Chinnaswamy pitch while chasing a 177-run target against PBKS. But bar Kohli, none of the top-order RCB batters has found form in the opening two games.
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The usually consistent Faf du Plessis has failed to lead from the front in his two unsuccessful outings with the bat. Glenn Maxwell and his Aussie compatriot Cameroon Green are yet to get going in the tournament. Talented Indian batter Rajat Patidar also looked out-of-sorts in the first two games. Dinesh Karthik is the only player to have delivered the goods in both matches. But contribution from the top and middle order is the need of the hour for the Men in Red.
RCB's bowling department, too, needs a marked improvement after conceding 175+totals in the first two matches.
Knight Riders eyeing to plug the holes
The Knight Riders were lucky to get off the mark in their opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad. If not for a brave effort from impact sub Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, and Andre Russell, they would've failed to reach a competitive total against the Sunrisers. Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer all failed to fire in the opener, resulting in a collapse that KKR can ill afford in the coming matches.
Mitchell Starc, the costliest buy in the IPL history, will be eager to perform at his best against his former employees after enduring a horrendous outing with the ball. Starc, bought for a whopping Rs 24.75 crore, leaked 53 runs in his quota of four overs and failed to bag a wicket.
However, KKR veteran all-rounder Andre Russell will be in focus for his current form and his record at the M Chinnaswamy stadium.
Advantage KKR in head-to-head record
The Knight Riders hold superiority in the 32 meetings between the two franchises. While KKR have won 18 games, RCB have emerged victorious on 14 occasions. In the last five fixtures, KKR have dominated the Challengers with four wins compared to a solitary victory for the latter.
Squads:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Match starts at 7.30 pm IST
