Royal Challengers Bangalore went onto lose their 5th match on a trot in Vivo IPL 12 as an Andre Russell masterpiece helped KKR snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. With 53 required off the last 16 deliveries, Andre Russell played a gem of an innings to take Kolkata over the line with 5 deliveries to spare. He smashed 23 of a Mohammad Siraj over and followed it up with a 29 runs over of Tim Southee in the penultimate over.
Royal Challengers need to get on a roll and start winning from now or else it will be another sorry tale for them this season as well. Despite their strong batting performance yesterday they lost a match to a man called Andre Russell. However, they should be relieved after their batting line-up came to form. Now it’s up to the bowlers to do the job for their franchise.
Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, will look to get their campaign right back on track when they meet the Royal Challengers Bangalore tomorrow night in the 20th match of Vivo IPL 12. Delhi Capitals have a young team which lacks experience. It has resulted in their defeat in the match against the Kings XI Punjab. However, they will be upbeat against the Royal Challengers Bangalore as they are the only franchise who is yet to win a match in the tournament so far.
Delhi Capitals have choked at crucial junctures of the game which saw them losing a game against Kings XI Punjab from a position of strength. They lost 7 wickets for just 8 runs in 17 deliveries and it was undoubtedly the greatest ever collapse in IPL history. Delhi Capitals have a young team which lacks the international experience.
They have some big names in the coaching staff and the youngsters will surely look to make most of the presence of Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting in the same dugout. Kagiso Rabada has been the standout bowler for RCB with Nepalese spinner Sandeep Lamichhane also giving him ample support. However the skipper Shreyas Iyer knows that they have some serious talent in their franchise who can turn the complexion of the game within a blink of an eye.
Predicted XI’s
Delhi Capitals
Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Colin Ingram, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Sandeep Lamichhane
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Akshdeep Nath, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Tim Southee, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prayas Ray Barman
Head to head:
Total number of matches played: 22
Matches won by RCB: 15
Matches won by DC: 6
Matches played in Bengaluru: 10 (RCB 6, DC 3)
Pitch Condition:
Wicket in the Chinnaswamy Stadium is always known as a batting paradise and it was quite evident from the last match between Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The home team lost the match after scoring 205 and the pitch won’t change drastically in a day. Hence the team batting first will look to score something above the 200 mark to give any chance in the match.
Weather Condition:
Conditions will be different as it will be a day game. The temperature will be on the higher side. Maximum temperature may reach 36 degrees. However, humidity shouldn’t be a problem in Bangalore as it always pleasing for a cricketer to play there. Rain cannot be predicted in the garden city as the weather in Bangalore is always uncertain.
Match Prediction
Bangalore is yet to win a match in the tournament so far. Both teams will consider it as an opportunity to make their way back into the tournament. While Delhi Capitals have still won a couple of matches, the condition of RCB is no better than the previous edition. Hence I will go with Delhi Capitals to win tomorrow’s clash.