Bangalore aim to put things right against Punjab

 TEAM INFO – Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are placed eighth on points table with two wins from 5 games would like to get a lot of things right, if it wants to stand a chance of qualifying to play-offs this season. Rated as the most inconsistent and unpredictable team in IPL, they would like to change that fact on the back of in-form trio of Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell. With three wins from five games, Punjab wouldn’t be complaining about their season so far, but they would be looking for another 3 wins in these next 5 games, so that another 2 wins from the final 4 should be able to take them through.

 Head-to-Head - Played - 30; Won by PBKS - 17; Won by RCB – 13

 PBKS possible XI – Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Matt Short, Harpreet Singh, Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, and Arshdeep Singh

 RCB possible XI – Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Mohammed Siraj, Vijaykumar Vyshak

 Pitch & Weather Report - The surface at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium is a pitch that is heavily favoured by the batters. A high-scoring encounter could be expected on this surface. Choosing to bowl first at the surface and looking to chase the total could prove to be a wise decision. With temperature to be ranging between 19 to 31 degrees Celsius, and with 31% chances of rain, you can expect rain to play spoilsport.

 Match Prediction – Punjab, who started the season brilliantly with 2 wins on the trot, have looked shaky in the last 3 games. Even though RCB haven’t won convincing games off-late, but at the least managed to get games close and that’s what matters. Both these teams have few flaws which needs to be corrected. Although, I feel that its going to be RCB’s bowling that will

have a good bit of advantage on the Punjab wicket, so its going to be Bangalore.

DC VS KKR AT DELHI

 TEAM INFO – Delhi have had one of the most disappointing seasons of all times so far and that resulted in words of inspiration coming from Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting. But, to be honest, it will take way more than words of motivation, if DC are looking for even a single win against teams that see it as an opportunity for free points. Kolkata would have mixed emotions

with 2 wins from 5 games, especially after losing the last 2 games against Hyderabad and Mumbai. KKR would surely be looking to get their act right and grab 2 crucial points while facing a weak Delhi.

 Head-to-Head - Played - 30; Won by DC – 14; Won by KKR – 16

 DC possible XI – David Warner (c), Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Manish

Pandey, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Abishek Porel (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich

Nortje, Mustafizur Rahman, Khaleel Ahmed

 KKR possible XI – Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), N Jagadeesan, Venkatesh

Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul

Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy

 Pitch & Weather Report - The previous match at this venue witnessed considerable assistance for the slower bowlers. The team winning the toss in Delhi would be inclined to bowl first, given the slow nature of the surface and also with the threat of dew hampering the bowlers in the second innings. With 33% chance of rain, you can expect rain to play a spoilsport in this match as well.

 Match Prediction – Delhi have numerous problems to resolve, but they do have a team to make a comeback. The only thing that’s required is for their top order to give a good start. With both Shaw and Marsh in terrible form, concerns for Delhi have gone to endless and it leaves captain Warner stranded. Kolkata are a spirited side and that hundred from Venkatesh Iyer would have increased their self-belief by a big margin. All said and done, Delhi are going to have a tough time against a well-settled Kolkata and this should get Kolkata to winning ways.

Fan Comments

“Its about time that the Russell Muscle comes to party and what better time for it to happen than against the out-of-form Delhi boys. Being a Shahrukh fan, I feel that Kolkata are one of the most balanced sides of the tournament.” – Adil Ghouri, 35, Businessman, Indian.

“Although I am a big hardcore fan of Mumbai Indians, but the clash of who is a better team between Mumbai and Bangalore has gone with Pranav for easily over a decade and with me born on the same date as him, I really hope that a RCB win brings a rare smile on his face :P” – Aaradhya Borkar, 30, 3D Animator, Indian.

“For the benefit of the tournament, really hoping Delhi make a come back with a few wins. This year’s IPL has been brilliant with a lot of games going to the wire. – Sailesh Bhatt, 63, Senior Accountant/MHMY Auditors, Indian.

“Looking forward to Shikhar Dhawan piling on runs in this year's IPL and putting pressure on the Indian selectors to make way for him in the ICC World Cup later this year. India really need both Dhawan-Sharma opening pair to win the World Cup.” – Rakshith Salian, 33, Sales Executive/Al Wazah Trading, Indian.

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