IPL 9, Match 19 Preview: Desperate RCB face the Lions in their den

The Gujarat Lions were going through a dream run, winning their first 3 encounters. A batting collapse in the next game and an ordinary bowling display gave them a 10-wicket setback against the Sunrisers. The Royal Challengers Bangalore, on the other hand, have been highly dependent on their batting to perform. Having beaten the Rising Pune Supergiants at Pune, they will take a lot of confidence into the next game.

RCB will take on GL at Rajkot and will be desperate to get back to winning ways. Gujarat Lions will be hoping to get some home advantage and put up a better show at home. The temperatures would go soaring and it is expected to be a 40-degree showdown at Rajkot in the afternoon game. Certainly both teams might wish to bat first, as against the trend of the season being batting second.

Team News-

Gujarat Lions:

The Gujarat Lions had opted to play with Dale Steyn in the previous game in place of James Faulkner. They certainly missed the services of the Aussie all-rounder in the batting department. But the Lions might well want to stick with Steyn. He might get another game since GL are up against a batting heavy RCB. They will also hope Aaron Finch delivers the goods for the side. In the three games when the Lions batted second, Finch scored half century on each occasion. In the only game when they batted first, Finch was dismissed for zero.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

The Royal Challengers Bangalore did not have a practice session at Rajkot and hence are most likely to play the same squad. Mandeep Singh might get another chance since he did not come out to bat in the previous game and it would only be unfair to drop him. Tabraiz Shamsi is also likely to retain his place. Chris Gayle hasn’t joined the side yet and will be missing out from this game too. RCB have their batting sorted with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers batting the way they are doing, their pacers need to come to the party, Kane Richardson did his part but his Indian mates, Harshal Patel and Varun Aaron to stick to the plans and not leak away runs that in return makes the pace attack a liability.

Probable XI-

Gujarat Lions:

Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina (C), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dale Steyn, Akshdeep Nath, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Stuart Binny, Harshal Patel, Kane Richardson, Iqbal Abdullah, Tabraiz Shamsi.

StAttack:

1. Mandeep Singh has played in 99 T20s so far.

2. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers account for over 66 percent of the total runs that RCB have scored this season so far.

3. The Gujarat Lions and Royal Challengers Bangalore have the highest run rates in the powerplays in this season. Gujarat Lions are a tad ahead with 8.79 as against RCB’s 8.71.

4. RCB is the only team in this year that has successfully defended the total twice. No other team has done this. The only other team that has managed to win a game batting first is Delhi Daredevils. They defeated Mumbai Indians by 10 runs the other night.