IPL is in its 2nd week and we have already had thrillers, highest total being breached, home fortress not being able to breach after 9 games.
Friday promises to be another humdinger of a contest when the Royal Challengers host the Knights from the eastern part of the country. They have played many interesting games in the past which are etched in our memories. Be it the inaugural game of the IPL in 2008 when McCullum shredded the Bangalore attack to pieces or Bangalore getting bundled out for 49, Lynn taking a stunner at the boundary line defying gravity to get rid of AB Devilliers.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru:
RCB have played a couple of games. Lost against the defending champions in the opener and then defeating Punjab Kings in a thriller at the Chinnaswamy. Virat Kohli is back and how? He has silenced his critics in a way only king Kohli can. He looks hungry for more and will look to take the game head on when he faces Mitchell Starc.
Faf needs to step up and start scoring. This team can't go all the way banking on contributions from Kohli and Maxwell all the time. Patidar needs to be back among the runs too.
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Kolkata Knight Riders:
KKR have just played a single game and won it with the skin of their teeth against SRH. Mitchell Starc had a day to forget. He was treated with disdain and carted all over the ground in his 4 overs spell.
Russell coming back in form is something that KKR have been waiting for the past 5 years. Rinku Singh is having the best time of his life and would love to thrive on every bowler that bowls to him. Sunil Narine didnt concede a single boundary on a wicket where runs were flowing like a river.
Players to watch out for:
Glenn Maxwell:
We all know what he is capable with both the bat and the ball. Hasn't come into his own with respect to the bat in this IPL but who knows? tomorrow just might be the day when the beast unleashes and goes hammer and tongs after the KKR bowling line up. Starc might be in for another long day if Maxwell is in the groove.
Shreyas Iyer:
KKR's captain is the talk of the town for last month or so. As per reports he faked an injury to miss a Ranji game, when BCCI warned the players he made himself available for the Ranji finals. Played a crucial knock in the final and would need to replicate that form in the IPL as well to make a strong case in front of the board and the selectors. He has missed the WC bus but he might just impress the selectors by performing exceedingly well in this mega carnival.
Probable Playing 11:
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Phil Salt(WK)
Venkatesh Iyer
Shreyas Iyer(C)
Nitish Rana
Ramandeep Singh
Rinku Singh
Andre Russell
Sunil Narine
Mitchell Starc
Harshit Rana
Varun Chakravarthy
Impact Sub: Suyash Sharma
Royal Challengers Bengaluru:
Virat Kohli
Faf Du Plessis(C)
Rajat Patidar
Glenn Maxwell
Cameron Green
Anuj Rawat(WK)
Dinesh Karthik
Alzarri Joseph
Mayank Dagar
Mohammad Siraj
Yash Dayal
Impact Sub: Mahipal Lomror
Weather and Pitch Report:
The pitch at the M Chinnaswamy is known to favour the chasing side. It was evident in the first game of this season when the hosts defeated Punjab by chasing down 177. Out of the 89 games to date, 48 have been won by teams batting second.
When it comes to winning the toss and the match, the ratio is 48:37, which indicates again that a captain winning the toss here usually goes for a field-first approach.
The average first innings score is 166, which might not suggest the true nature of the venue. Because 166 is nowhere near competitive in an evening encounter at the M Chinnaswamy.
Dew is going to play a significant role as it will be a night game. However, the cloud cover between 7-9 pm might make the team batting first a bit disadvantageous as they will not have much dew to favour them.
The temperatures would range between 32 degrees Celsius from 7 pm IST, when the match starts, to 31 degrees Celsius by 11 pm IST. Once the cloud cover decreases, the effect of dew will start to come into play and hence, the captain winning the toss would look to field first.
Match Details:
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium
Date: 29th March, 2024
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Live Telecast: Star Sports Network and Jio Cinema
Predicted Dream XI:
