Today's IPL 2016 Match, Rising Pune Supergiants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Preview: Pitch Report & Weather Forecast of RPS vs RCB

After surprising everyone by losing two games in a row from winning positions, Royal Challengers Bangalore will head north in the hunt for their second victory in IPL 2016, to the home turf of the Rising Pune Supergiants. The batting strength of the Royal Challengers Bangalore will be put to test on a bowler-friendly pitch at Pune. The wicket has assisted the bowlers a great deal in the past.

The Rising Pune Warriors will also be looking to get back to winning ways. It’s a pity that a team consisting of world-class players such as Kevin Pietersen and Steve Smith, had only two batsmen crossing the 50 run mark. With a wavering bowling attack, Pune is yet to find a consistent new ball bowler who can support Ishant Sharma at the other end and they will need to get their combination spot on to silence the massive batting line-up of the Challengers.

Match Date and Time: 22 April 2016, 2000 hrs ISTMatch Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Weather:

Temperature: Max 31°c, Min 22°cHumidity: Max 46%Wind: 20 km per hour

Pitch Report: Bowler’s will get a good purchase from the wicket and test the full potential of the batters.

In-Depth Analysis:

Considering the Royal Challengers Bangalore, they have not disappointed with the bat (yet) in the 3 games that they have played. With Captain Virat Kohli being the leading run-scorer for the Challengers, it is interesting to note that Virat and AB de Villiers have been involved in two 50 run partnerships and even going above 100 on one occasion.Even when they lost 3 wickets in quick succession against the Mumbai Indians, the middle order rested fears of a collapse and managed to reach 170.

The area that the Challengers clearly need to work on is the bowling department. Though the team from Bangalore won their first game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, it is important to note that the Sunrisers managed to score above 9 runs per over against the Challengers bowling unit.

The bowlers have been guilty on the previous occasions, allowing the Delhi Daredevils and the Mumbai Indians to chase down respectable totals. RCB have tried 3 bowlers in the last the 3 matches including the Kiwi International, Adam Milne, S Aravind, Varon Aaron and none of them have managed to make a good impression.

RCB will be hoping for the swift return of the Aussie Mitchell Starc, who seems like the only bowler who can bring good fortune to the Bangalore team. Word must be put in for the left arm spin bowler, Iqbal Abdulla who has almost cemented his place for the game against the Supergiants by picking up 3 important wickets in his previous match against the Mumbai Indians.

Coming to the Rising Pune Supergiants, the new franchise had a mixed start to their debut campaign. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is known for backing his players, will most probably go into the game with an unchanged side.

The South African Faf du Plessis, has put on an impressive display by scoring 2 fifties already in this season. The middle order of the Supergiants has been far from consistent with big players like Kevin Pietersen and Steve Smith failing to record a single fifty this season.

The Aussie all-rounder, Mitchell Marsh could be back to face the Challengers and his performance will be vital as he is known for clearing the boundary with ease. His bowling skills were utilised well in the first match of the tournament against the Mumbai Indians, where he picked up 4 wickets and conceding only 21 runs in his 4 overs.

The last twenty over the match that was played on this wicket offered good spin for the bowlers, the performance of the ever reliable Ravichandran Ashwin and the upcoming leggie, Murugan Ashwin might just favor the Supergiants.

TRIVIA:

-Team batting second has won on more than 10 occasions in this season.

-RCB have consistently scored more than 50 runs for the third wicket partnership this campaign.