RPS vs RCB Match Prediction: Who will win today's match between Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2016, Match 16

Rising Pune Supergiants will play their first game at home against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday. What makes this match even more exciting is the fact that the Indian limited overs captain will square off against the Indian Test captain. Both these much-fancied sides have struggled to get going in this edition of the IPL 2016. Infact, their campaigns so far have been quite similar with both sides losing their last two games after registering wins in the first game.

It is difficult to pick a favourite but one would have to side with the home team here. Dhoni's men have had the time to assess the home conditions nicely whereas Kohli & Co. have been on the road for a while. Having said that, it should be a close game between these two exceptionally talented sides. If the pitch is similar to the one seen in the T20 international game against Sri Lanka a couple of months back, then be rest assured that the batters are in for a lot of trouble. That wicket resembled a green English track with a lot of grass cover back then. This pitch though may not behave like it did in that game but there should be something in it for the seamers. The team winning the toss will most probably chase.

If RCB bat first

Predicted score: 150 plus

KL Rahul will open the batting in Gayle's absence with skipper Virat Kohli. It might be a good idea for RCB to try Watson as an opener and Kohli coming in at no.3. AB De Villiers, Sarfraz Khan and Travis Head have to carry the momentum in the middle to end overs. They need to make sure that they don’t get bogged down in the middle and repeat the mistakes they made in the previous game.

Ideally, RCB would love to have at least 110 on the board after 15 overs with power hitters like Sarfaraz and Stuart Binny waiting in the dug-out. The powerplays will be a little tough as the ball might jag around and as always the contributions from Kohli and De Villiers will be crucial.

The weakness for RCB has always been their bowling. The absence of Mitchell Starc has really hurt them. His compatriot Kane Richardson should open the bowling with Varun Aaron or S Aravind. Kohli might persist with Aaron for this game even though he had a forgettable outing against Mumbai. If the likes of Harshal Patel and Stuart Binny don’t leak runs in the middle then RCB might stand a chance.

If RPS bat first

Predicted score: 155 plus

The batting looks settled at the top with Rahane and Du Plessis opening the batting followed by the experience of Kevin Pietersen, Steve Smith, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. We might see Albie Morkel in action for this game if Perera is dropped. Irfan Pathan can tonk the ball coming in later down the batting order.

It’s important for the Pune batsmen to take the game to the opposition bowlers with aggression. The strike rates of the openers have to be better than they were in the last couple of games. Since the initial few overs are expected to be tough, Pune would love to score around 40 odd runs in the powerplays. After the powerplays are done and dusted, it’s important for the batsmen to accelerate in the middle overs and shouldn’t allow the lesser bowlers of RCB to settle down.

On the bowling front, the experienced Indian duo of Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan have to give the Supergiants those early breakthroughs. As clichéd it may sound, the RCB batters would run away with the game in a jiffy if the bowlers are not up to mark. The pitch should be conducive for swing bowling and it’s up to the fast bowlers to exploit the conditions. The R. Ashwin – M. Ashwin duo would then love to flummox the RCB batters with their subtle variations.

Probable Winners: Rising Pune Supergiants