The Kings XI Punjab would be in the firng line when they take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Match 43 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017. That is because RCB have already been ruled out of the contention for a spot in the final four, and any win that they secure from here would only be a consolation and would mess up other teams’ chances to qualify.
Punjab are placed 5th on the points table at the moment and have won 5 out of their nine matches. They would be high on confidence after demolishing the Delhi Daredevils by 10 wickets in their last outing, wherein the Daredevils were bowled out for a paltry total of 67.
Hashim Amla, the captain Glenn Maxwell and Manan Vohra have been the star performers with the bat, whereas Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma have shared the burden with the ball.
RCB, on the other hand, have had nothing going right for them this season, as despite the firepower of Chris Gayle. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in their midst, they find themselves languishing at the bottom of the table.
Neither the batsmen nor the bowlers have been able to step up and take responsibility whenever required in crunch situations and predictably, the strongest team on paper has turned out to be the weakest one on the field.
Bangalore lost their last encounter against the Mumbai Indians on May 1 wherein they could not chase down a modest target of 163 runs after their bowlers had done well during the first half of the game.
Barring Yuzvendra Chahal and Samuel Badree, who have been the only shining lights in otherwise gloomy campaign, none of the other RCB players haved done anything noteworthy. While Gayle, Kohli and de Villiers have been good in bursts, none of them have been consistent enough to make an impact.
Match date: 05-05-2017Match time: 2000 hours (IST)Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Prediction
The Kings XI have a 3-2 win-loss record while chasing and have a 1-2 record while defending. Hence, they are better suited to chase targets rather than defending them. The kind of big hitters that they have in their midst, bolstered by the inclusion of Martin Guptill, make them capable enough to hunt down any target.
However, in order to do that, their batsmen, who have been consistent but haven’t been able to finish off games on their own, need to step up. The perceived weakness of the RCB bowling lineup must also give Punjab the confidence of going all guns blazing.
RCB, on the other hand, have won just two of their ten games, and both of them have come while defending targets. Hence, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Kohli wins the toss and decides to bat first. If he does decide to have a go at the Punjab bowlers, he needs to ensure that hia team bats big.
If KXIP bat first: Predicted Score: 180; Predicted Winners: KXIP
If RCB bat first: Predicted Score: 165; Predicted Winners: KXIP
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