IPL 2018, Match 31: RCB vs MI - Match preview, head-to-head, pitch report, key stats

Three-time IPL finalists, Royal Challengers Bangalore, will face off against defending champions, Mumbai Indians, in the 31st match of IPL 2018.

The Royal Challengers will enter the encounter with a lot to improve as they haven't been able to find the right combination. With a more or less settled batting lineup, RCB need to look upon their dismal death bowling and fielding. With a home encounter against MI, Royal Challengers will be looking forward to pulling things back and climb the points table.

On the other hand, Mumbai Indians will look to continue their winning run and be in contention for the playoffs. Mumbai will be riding high on confidence after a comprehensive win against CSK in their previous encounter. Mumbai would be hoping to stick to their basics, and carry forward the winning momentum.

As both teams are languishing in the bottom half of points table, this clash will prove to be crucial for both if they want to stay in the race for the playoffs.

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Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians, Details

Match Date: 1 May 2018, Tuesday

Match Timing: 20:00 IST, 14:30 GMT

Match Venue: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India

Expected Crowd Turnout: Fans have come out in large numbers to support RCB despite their dismal show in the tournament. Thus, it is expected to be a house-full game with a total crowd attendance of 37,700.

Weather

The temperature should be around 30 degrees Celsius. The humidity levels will hover at around the 51% mark. There is no forecast of rain. The weather will be a bit hazy with a cloud cover of 39%.

Pitch report

With a bit of rain in last two days, the pitch offered during the game might be on the softer side. However, spinners might get some help from the surface in the second innings.

Head-to-head

MI 14 - RCB 8. MI have a good edge over RCB with fourteen wins in comparison to eight wins for the latter.

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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) IPL 2018 Squad

RCB haven't been able to make their mark in the tournament so far

Quinton de Kock (wk), Virat Kohli (c), Manan Vohra, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Colin de Grandhomme, Chris Woakes, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Brendon McCullum, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, Kulwant Khejroliya, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini, Murugan Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Corey Anderson, Aniruddha Joshi, Pavan Deshpande, and Tim Southee.

Mumbai Indians (MI) IPL 2018 Squad

MI will look to continue their winning momentum

Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Akila Dananjaya, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Ben Cutting, Pradeep Sangwan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tajinder Singh, Sharad Lumba, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, MD Nidheesh, and Adam Milne.

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All the stats and numbers to look out ahead of the match No. 31 between RCB and MI:

1 – Rohit Sharma needs to hit one more size to complete 300 sixes in the history of T20 cricket. He will become the seventh player in the history of T20 cricket to hit 300 or more sixes.

3 – AB de Villiers needs to hit three more sixes to surpass Rohit Sharma on the list of most IPL sixes. Smashing these sixes, de Villiers will acquire the second position on the list of most IPL sixes.

6 – Virat Kohli needs six more sixes to surpass MS Dhoni on the list of most IPL sixes. Smashing these sixes, Virat Kohli will acquire the fifth position on the list of most IPL sixes.

11 – Virat Kohli is just eleven runs behind Suresh Raina to become the all-time highest run-getter in the history of IPL.