Chasing 155 for victory against KXIP, host RCB romped home in 19.3 overs, thanks to some fine knocks by Quinton de Kock (45), AB de Villiers (57) followed by Mandeep Singh’s 22, down the order. Watson has fit into the CSK team set-up perfectly after an indifferent stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore, but under Dhoni’s leadership he seems to have flourished. Punjab played their first game against Delhi and won the game. In his 30-ball knock, Rahul slammed two boundaries and four sixes. If they seek to address that, it may mean Brendon McCullum (who got a first ball duck) gives way to one of two fellow Kiwis- all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme or seamer Tim Southee. Consistently bowling at speeds of over 140 kmph, he ran amok in his second over to claim three top order batsmen – Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh – and it should rank among the best spell of fast bowling at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The spinners, in particular, will be under the microscope, if they’re brought on in the first six overs. It didn’t help that D’Arcy Short, twice run out after single-digit scores, hasn’t lived up to his Big Bash League billing either.
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For RR, it will be a test for their bowling unit against the big hitters of RCB at their own backyard.
Indian speedster Umesh Yadav has not had a great 2018 so far as the pacer has been out of Indian team despite being part of the squad and only been carrying drinks. Jamie Pacheco talks us through it all, also including Bangalore Top Bowler and Rajasthan Top Batsman bets. The match will kick-start at 8:00 PM tonight.
RCB finally clicked well as a team after their defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the first game. Out of the games played between the sides, two were abandoned due to rains. However, in response, a better show was expected from batsmen. Spinners who put in extra bit of effort were able to generate considerable amount of turn. De Kock was five runs away from the half-century, then Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin bowled them. The following ball, Ashwin turned legspinner and got Sarfaraz in the slip.
Their batting looks strong, though. RR too got off the mark in their earlier match against DD and lie in the sixth position of the IPL 2018 table. Against pace, he has scored 526 runs off 369 balls, with a strike rate of 142.6.
The Punjab innings, however, began with a bang with Rahul taking 16 runs from the opening over bowled by Woakes whom he hit for a four and two sixes. Moeen Ali is unlikely to get a game for the time being. We knew the new ball will come on nicely.
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“He says, ‘Umesh, bowl on the stumps, bowl stump to stump, outside off, that’s your area”.
