In the first match of the doubleheader on super Sunday, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be gearing up to play the Rajasthan Royals (RR). The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just a week old. However, we have already witnessed some highly-intense games.
The youngsters have unleashed some magnificent performances. Those have outclassed the performances of the more experienced campaigners.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have begun their campaign with consecutive victories, Mumbai Indians, and Delhi Daredevils locked horns against each other on Saturday as Delhi had the last laugh in another thriller of an encounter.
Meanwhile, on Saturday evening Kolkata Knight Riders played against Surnisers Hyderabad in which visitors sealed a convincingly five-wicket win. Kolkata began with a victory but brilliant innings by Sam Billings in the second encounter helped CSK chase down a mammoth total of 203.
Both teams; Bangalore and Royals began with defeats but came back strongly in the second encounter to get their campaign back on track.
Bangalore lost the first match against the Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets. Some good batting performances by AB de Villiers and Mandeep Singh helped RCB score a more than competitive 176 on the board.
Whereas, de Villiers smashed 44 of 23 deliveries, Mandeep scored a quickfire 37 of just 18 deliveries.
Knight Riders began their chase in spectacular fashion as Sunil Narine struck a 17-ball half-century. It almost dashed the hopes of the RCB fans.
In the end, it was some sensible batting by skipper Dinesh Karthik which ensured KKR reached the target in the penultimate over. Overall Bangalore will be happy with their batting performance.
However, as the tournament progresses their bowlers have to up the ante and start performing far better.
Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, was blown away by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first encounter. It was some brilliant bowling by Siddharth Kaul and Shakib Al Hasan which restricted Rajasthan to a below-par score of 125 in their allotted 20 overs.
Explosive opener Shikhar Dhawan smashed a brilliant knock of an unbeaten 77 which helped SRH chase the total down with 26 deliveries to spare. They lost just a solitary wicket in the process.
Team Combinations –
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Following their impressive victory against the Kings XI Punjab, Bangalore is unlikely to tinker with their winning combination. It was a good all-round performance by the whole team which eventually handed them a victory in the previous encounter.
McCullum was dismissed without bothering the scorers. However, given his power hitting abilities at the top of the order, he is expected to retain his place.
The bowling line-up is also expected to remain the same as all the bowlers were successful yesterday.
Predicted XI: Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals:
The Rajasthan XI is also expected to remain the same given the fact that Jofra Archer isn’t fit yet. If he is fit, Ben Laughlin will make way for him.
However, Laughlin bowled well in the previous encounter. The top order looks settled. However D’Arcy Short have to come good to maintain his place for the rest of the tournament.
Predicted XI: D’Arcy Short, Rahul Tripathi, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer/Ben Laughlin, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat
Match prediction:
Both teams have won a match each. While RCB looks a more settled unit on paper, Rajasthan also has some serious names in their line-up.
With Ben Stokes being the X-factor and the match being played in a relatively small Chinnaswamy Stadium, I have a gut feeling that Rajasthan might return as the winners of the 11th match of the tournament.
