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KL Rahul's Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will square off against Faf du Plessis' Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, April 10.
LSG have played three games so far in the IPL, winning two while losing the other. Ahead of the season, they were one of the better teams on paper and have lived up to their expectations, even though the sample size is quite small.
RCB, on the other hand, have played two games so far, winning one convincingly while losing the other terribly. They received a thrashing at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their last encounter at the Eden Gardens.
RCB will look to get back into winning ways, while LSG will be aiming to get their first away win in this year's IPL.
The match is expected to be a close one but LSG might have an advantage over RCB. On that note, let's take a look at three reasons to justify the same.
#1 RCB's death bowling issues
RCB have serious issues with their death bowling as they have been horrendous in that particular phase over the last couple of games.
They bowled extremely well upfront in both games but conceded too many runs at the back end, which ruined all the good work with the new ball.
LSG will be aware of this and will thus look to tear into this weakness of their opponents.
#2 RCB's lack of batting depth
While RCB have one of the best opening combinations in the IPL, comprising Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, their middle order is one of the weakest amongst all the 10 teams.
Glenn Maxwell is not the most reliable batter, Michael Bracewell is untested in the IPL, and Dinesh Karthik hasn't shown that he can play big knocks, which means that RCB have a little bit of a hole in their batting.
They are overly reliant on their top-order, which means that the Super Giants will be favorites if they are able to make early inroads.
#3 LSG players' familiarity with conditions
Quite a few players in the Lucknow squad have represented RCB in the past, including KL Rahul, Avesh Khan, Quinton de Kock, Daniel Sams, and Marcus Stoinis.
As such, all these players have enormous experience playing at the M. Chhinaswamy Stadium, which will be of vital importance once the game starts.
All in all, a cracker of a game awaits fans as both teams will be desperate to secure those two crucial points.
