After a setback against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Chennai Super Kings will look to regroup themselves and register a win to consolidate their position at the top. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to keep the winning momentum from the last match and the only positive they have is they need to perform and win all the matches to stay in the hunt for the playoffs.
AB De Villiers is set to return in the match against CSK, which is a big positive for RCB. However, MS Dhoni was the only difference between the two teams when they last met in Bangalore and RCB bowlers have a job on their hand to dismiss the former Indian captain.
When
5th May 2018, 16:00Hrs (IST)
Where
MCA Stadium, Pune
Match Importance
This match will be important for RCB to eke out a win, one loss from here will ousted them from the hunt for the playoffs.
A win for CSK will mean that they go on the top of the points table.
Positives from last match
CSK: Faf Du Plessis showed hint of form with a blistering knock of 27 of just 15 balls. Watson is allready in form which can make life uneasy for the RCB bowlers at the start of the innings.
RCB: The biggest problem for RCB was its bowling attack but the problem seems to be sorted with their three pace spearhead finally delivering in the match against Mumbai Indians. Tim Southee even picked the man of the match award for his spell of 2/25.
Area of Concern
CSK: Ravindra Jadeja is not performing up to his reputation, he fails to score runs, goes for runs and now recently he dropped two back to back catches of Sunil Narine that costed the match to CSK.
RCB: Their opening combination is not clicking, and not providing the ideal start at the start of the innings. There is lack of inconsistency with Quinton De Kock.
Key Players
CSK: Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo
RCB: Virat Kohli, Tim Southee
Head to Head battle
Chennai Super Kings won – 14, Royal Challengers Bangalore won – 7
Key Battles
It will be the battle of India’s two most decorated cricketers- Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. CSK’s captain has found his form back which makes the battle more fierce and interesting.
Weather
There is no signs of rain, and the temperature will range from 34′-37′ degree celcius in the evening with humidity rate of 45%.
Astrological Predictions
CSK’s win percentage: 63%
RCB’s win percentage: 37%
Teams
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Brendon McCullum, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Moeen Ali, Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Parthiv Patel, Aniruddha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande, Tim Southee.
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, K M Asif, Kanishk Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan
