RCB v/s KKR Preview

It is Day 7 of the Indian Premier League 2012, and a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders team, who have suffered defeats in their two matches so far will be taking on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy stadium. Kolkata Knight Riders have been the perennial losers in IPL’s short history and will be certainly hoping to shed that tag and start their 2012 season, with a win today. Gambhir acknowledged that KKR’s batting let them down in the previous two matches. The batsmen have looked woefully out of form and KKR will certainly be expecting that at least one of their top order batsmen in Jaques Kallis, Gautam Gambhir, and Yusuf Pathan find their form with the willow.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have a win under their belt after their convincing 20-run victory over the Delhi Daredevils at home. The Bangalore franchise looks strong and hungry. RCB’s top order struggled against Delhi and they would be hoping to put up a better show today in front of their fans. Chris Gayle who sat out the last match with an injury is likely to return today adding more teeth to RCB’s batting line-up.

Head to Head:

The two teams have met each other 9 times in (8 times in the IPL) and RCB have come out victorious in 5 of those occasions. Their last encounter was in the Champions League held last September where KKR won convincingly by 9 wickets.

Played: 9, RCB – 5, KKR – 4

Players to watch for:

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Muttiah Muralitharan: He might have retired from international cricket and is one of the older players in the tournament, but still Muralitharan remains a big threat to batsmen as he was during his prime. In the first match, he picked up three vital wickets and strangled the Delhi middle order, and will be keen on repeating the same feat with his off-breaks and doosras on the out of form KKR batsmen.
Virat Kohli – The poster boy of Indian cricket, at the moment is having the time of his life ticking off runs at will. In the first match he didn’t get going and fell cheaply for 8 runs, but rest assured that he would be keen to make his mark and get back to his usual run scoring consistent ways.
Chris Gayle – We haven’t seen Chris Gayle in action so far this season, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. Last year he got off a plane and slammed a brilliant century against KKR at Eden Gardens and will be certainly looking forward to going against his former team and open his account this season.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Brett Lee – KKR’s batsmen have failed so far in the tournament and have made their bowler’s jobs more difficult. However it will be down to Brett Lee being the senior bowler and the international star in the team to lead by example. He certainly will have his work cut out as RCB has some power batsmen in Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, and KKR will rely on him to get the early breakthrough.
Yusuf Pathan – Yusuf Pathan has failed to impress since that ground-breaking performance for Rajasthan in the first season. He certainly has the talent and his ability to clear the fence will be evident on a ground such as the Chinnaswamy, where the boundaries are not that far. Also Gambhir will use his arm, and his off-spinners have the ability not only to restrict the flow of runs, but also provide wickets – RCB will be vary of him.
Gautam Gambhir – With KKR’s back to back losses, it’s time for the skipper to step up and lead by example. With a duck in his last outing, Gambhir will certainly be hoping to write a different script with the bat as he leads his team.

Predicted Result:

Both the teams are strong and have some genuine match-winners in their ranks. However, with home conditions and recent form favoring RCB, they are favorites to win this encounter.