An in form Chennai Super Kings will look to get another win under their belt to top the points tally, on the other hand Royal Challengers Bangalore will be eager to win the contest and make a comeback in the ongoing IPL season.
Both the teams are coming from a cracker of a win from their last encounter, CSK thump SRH by a margin of just four-runs, whereas, RCB are coming on a back of a win over Delhi Daredevils, riding on AB De Villiers’ masterstroke.
CSK lead RCB 13-7 in the overall head-to-head record
CSK have four wins from five matches, RCB decline in the bottom half of the table with just two wins from five matches.
Positives for RCB will be the form of AB De and captain Kohli, who have been amongst the runs in the previous encounters, however, the opening slot still looks doubtful, and may be up for any further experiment by the coach and team management.
For CSK, Watson and their highest run getter so far Rayudu have been phenomenal at the top of the innings, and the middle order is equally contributing to the team’s winning cause. The return of Suresh Raina from the calf injury have only boosted team’s balance and middle order.
Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Sam Billings and Dwayne Bravo have picked man of the match award in different matches, which states that the team looks well balanced and every player is contributing to team’s winning cause.
At the M ChinnaswamyStadium: Matches – 7, Royal Challengers Bangalore won – 3, Chennai Super Kings won – 3, No Result – 1
RCB will be backing their spin duo of Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal to put up a spirited show as CSK have struggled against spin, they have lost 10 wickets to them and only managed to score at 7.70 runs per over. The fact comes as a boost for RCB, with two Indian International spinners in the line-up.
Umesh Yadav and Englishman Chris Woakes have been equally contributing in the bowling department picking up 16 wickets between them.
Key battle
This match will see the IPL’s top two run-getters square-off against each other. CSK’s Suresh Raina tops the list at the moment, while the RCB captain Virat Kohli trails him by 9 runs.
Weather
There is no signs of typical Bengaluru rain, and the temperature will range from 26′-32′ degree celcius in the evening.
Astrological predictions
CSK’s winning chance: 60%
RCB’s winning chance:: 40%
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
When
25 April 2018, 20:00Hrs (IST)
Where
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
