Tuesday will see two teams, positioned in the lower half of the table right now, square off against one another in a game that bears a great level of significance, in their quest to remain in contention for a spot in the top 4.
Both the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions- two teams who are looking desperately for some momentum in the competition, square off at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
RCB will be coming into the game on the back of a loss at home to the Rising Pune Supergiant, where they failed to chase a score just in excess of 160 while the Lions will be coming into the game after losing to the Mumbai Indians away from home.
Both teams have so far won just the solitary game and so will be really desperate to gain some momentum with a win on Tuesday night.
For the RCB, the dilemma starts at the top. Should Chris Gayle play or not? The Jamaican has really in the competition so far and found himself out of 2 of the 5 games so far. Will he make a return on Tuesday?
Are the RCB thin in the middle-order batting? Barring Kedar Jadhav, none have made an impact so far post the likes of de Villiers, Kohli and others. The positive for the side has been the form of Samuel Badree, who has been terrific for them with the ball. Sreenath Aravind has been good but lacked the luck.
On the other hand, Gujarat Lions have shown better execution with the bat, with Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith setting the foundation, but barring them, none have put up a big score. Dinesh Karthik had a fine game on Sunday, but needs to remain consistent. Suresh Raina too had one good game but nothing apart from that.
In the bowling, the team has surely missed the services of Dwayne Bravo and will hope he returns to the side soon.
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Prediction:
If RCB bats 1st: 170+
If the pitch is a good one for batting, expect the RCB top-order to have a feast. Kohli has shown no rust so far, despite having being out of action for a month. de Villiers in his comeback match showed what he was capable of and it is now upto the rest to stand up and deliver.
If GL bat first: 160+
The onus will once again be on the openers to do the bulk of the damage at the top. Suresh Raina will look to get a score on his board after the opening game. Critically, they will need contributions from the likes of Karthik and others at the Number 5,6 and 7 slots.
Prediction: It is difficult to make one for this game, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore because of a better bowling attack, could pip the Lions at home.
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