IPL 2018, Match 35, CSK vs RCB, Match Prediction: Who will win the match today, Chennai Super Kings or Royal Challengers Bangalore?

The Royal Challengers Bangalore made a little comeback the other evening when they got the better of the reigning champions Mumbai Indians at the Chinnaswamy, but they still have a long way to go to be able to qualify for the playoffs. They are going to be on the road now for a majority of their campaign and the away run starts tomorrow as they visit the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium to face the Chennai Super Kings.

CSK were handed over a defeat by the Kolkata Knight Riders last night, but they are still sitting pretty comfortable in the standings, all they need is 2 wins out of 5 to secure a qualification. They will, however, not want to drop the momentum with back to back defeats at this stage and will, therefore, be as keen as RCB for a positive result.

Pitch and Conditions

The Pune pitch during IPL 10 was slow and sticky, but that has not been the case this year. It, for a change, has been good for batting and has produced some high scoring games. Tomorrow’s contest should be on the same lines and the spectators should be in for some serious batting entertainment with the likes of MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers on show. Both teams, are batting heavy and will like to chase.

Playing Combination

Chennai Super Kings

Probable Changes – No Change

Faf du Plessis is someone whose spot in the XI is up for much debate, but he batted decently in the last game and showed aggressive approach to go after the bowling in the powerplay. He is likely to pair up with Shane Watson to open the innings for CSK again and thus there is no room for David Willey.

KM Asif has been a tad expensive in the two games he has played, but he has bowled with pace and has created ample opportunities to deserve another crack. Considering the fact that Deepak Chahar is yet to regain full fitness and Shardul Thakur’s form in the tournament has been shaky, the Kerala pacer is a straightforward selection for tomorrow.

Predicted XI: Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Probable Changes – Quinton de Kock and Manan Vohra out, AB de Villiers and Parthiv Patel in

Quinton de Kock has flown back to South Africa to attend a family wedding which means the wicketkeeper’s slot in the RCB XI is vacant. It will fall into the reserve keeper Parthiv Patel hands who will also bat at the top in de Kock’s absence.

AB de Villiers has recovered from viral fever and is available for selection. He will be slotted at no. 4 and Brendon McCullum will be pushed to open the innings with Parthiv which will subsequently result in the removal of Manan Vohra. It will, however, be harsh on the youngster as he made a handy contribution last game.

Predicted XI: Parthiv Patel (wk), Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Colin de Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Team Comparison

Both teams rely on their batting and will be in a spot of bother if they have to bowl second and defend a score as they don’t have quality death bowlers. CSK’s batting in comparison is slightly stronger as they have more in-form batters in comparison to RCB who desperately require Kohli-de Villiers duo to fire to get to a substantial total.

RCB have a better spin attack courtesy Yuzvendra Chahal who is among the best leg-spinners in the tournament based on recent form. The 27-year-old has been brilliant of late in terms of his guile and variations and his 4-over quota will be of massive importance for the visitors. CSK have had Harbhajan Singh bowling economically for them too, but the veteran hasn’t fetched his captain key wickets, unlike Chahal.

Probable Top Performers

Lungi Ngidi (Chennai Super Kings), Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Head to Head

Matches – 21, Chennai Super Kings – 13, Royal Challengers Bangalore – 7 N/R – 1

The timing of the match: 04:00 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports Hindi, Star Sports Select 1

Online – Jio TV, Hotstar

The prediction is for the Chennai Super Kings to beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore in this match.