The fifteenth match of the ongoing 16th season of the Indian Premier League will be played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Lucknow Super Giants tonight, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
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KL Rahul – led LSG have registered one-sided victories against their opponents at their home ground in Lucknow so far, while lost narrowly to CSK in Chennai, despite batting well in all the three matches so far.
With Kyle Mayers having impressed with two half-centuries so far, the think-tank will yet again have to decide upon the inclusion of their star and in-form Proteas wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock in the playing XI tonight.
RCB, on the other hand, had infused a novel dose of energy within their ever-passionate fans after crushing Mumbai Indians in their opening match of he season. However, KKR ran through them at Eden Gardens during their next game, handing them a heavy 81-run defeat.
Their death bowling problem is the biggest headache at present. Both Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel have leaked runs in the last five Overs on a consistent basis.
With Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga set to arrive in India today, it remains to be seen whether he will be available for selection, and act as the balm to this particular aspect of their bowling.
M Chinnaswamy Stadium Bengaluru Pitch Report today for RCB vs LSG
The RCB vs LSG match will be played on the very track where the former clashed against MI during their tournament opener.
RCB had comfortable chased down the target of 172 runs with 22 deliveries to spare, with Virat Kohli (82* off 49) and Faf du Plessis (73 off 43), stitching a century partnership for the first wicket.
While the pitch will likely assist the batter overall, there was also some help for the new ball pacers and the spinners later on as well, as was remarked by du Plessis during the post-match presentation.
“…And that second innings, if you want to know how to chase a target, well, that’s how you do it. If you took pace off the ball, it wasn’t too easy to play and there was something in it for the spinners but as a batter if you got into good positions you could score runs,” summarized the RCB skipper on the nature of the Bengaluru pitch last Sunday.
Having said that, expect plenty of Sixes to be hit on a ground with smaller boundary dimensions, and brace yourself for a high-scoring match tonight in Bengaluru.
