Bengaluru – Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), after losing its first match against the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, will be aiming for their first win of the IPL-10 when they take on Delhi Daredevils on their home ground at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru later today.
RCB are currently without the services of skipper Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and KL Rahul. While Kohli and De villiers are expected to be fit soon, Rahul has been ruled out of the entire season. Talented Sarfaraz Khan will most likely be unavailable for the season after hurting himself on the field during a practice match. Shane Watson, who looked out of sorts in the previous game and struggled with both bat and ball, would continue to lead the side as an interim captain. The absence of big names from the team has had an effect as RCB went down to defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs in the inaugural match.
However, Bangalore would be hoping that their destructive batsmen Chris Gayle and Watson, both of whom are capable of destroying any opposition on their day, come good against the Daredevils. The good and the positive thing which goes in RCB’s favour is that they will be playing at their own den.
A lot will depend on top five of the RCB side which will make or break the batting department. Chris Gayle and Mandeep Singh will again open the innings with Travis Head at number three, Kedar Jadhav at four and Shane Watson coming in at five.
In the bowling department, they would depend on Tymal Mills, an expensive buy at the IPL 2017 auction, and Yuzvendra Chahal. Both of them had picked just one wicket each in the last game.
With Aniket Choudhary and Sreenath Aravind averaging over 10, Watson might opt for Kiwi pacer Adam Milne and Samuel Badree.
Meanwhile, the Daredevils, who have been the worst performing side in the nine previous IPL seasons, would be desperately looking to get a few wins early on to bolster their fragile confidence. But the picture does not look so rosy with injuries to some of their star players.
They have lost South Africans Quinton De Kock and Jean-Paul Duminy for the entire tournament, affecting their balance. While Duminy pulled out citing personal reasons, de Kock had suffered a tendon damage on his right index finger during the Test series against New Zealand.
Shreyas Iyer, the flamboyant batsman, has been ruled out for at least a week due to chickenpox. Sri Lankan Angelo Matthews also has injury worries along with Mohammad Shami.
In bowling, captain Zaheer Khan who will be spearheading the attack, has not bowled so far this season and thus there are question marks over him. However, Daredevils have the likes of West Indies T20 captain Carlos Brathwaite and Aussie pacer Pat Cummins to lend the team experience and fire power.
Delhi would bank on aggressive New Zealander Corey Anderson to win them a few games.
Today’s Matches
KXIP Vs RSP
Holkar Cricket Stadium, 4 pm
RCB Vs DD
- Chinnaswamy Stadium, 8 pm
Tomorrow’s Matches
SRH Vs Gujarat Lions
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, 4 pm
Mumbai Indians Vs. KKR
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, 8 pm.
Yesterday’s Result
Gujarat Lions 183 for 4 in 20 overs lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 184 for no loss in 14.5 overs.
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