RCB vs RPS Match Prediction: Who will win the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rising Pune Supergiants, IPL 2016, Match 35

MS Dhoni will be hoping to lead his new team to another win

The 35th match of the VIVO IPL 2016 will witness the Royal Challengers Bangalore engage in battle with the Rising Pune Supergiants. It will be a home match for RCB as it is being played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. By no means has life been easy for the two teams in the 9th edition of the IPL. While the Challengers are placed at 7th position in the league table with 4 points, RPS are just one spot above them with 6 points in their kitty.

The Bangalore side has excelled in terms of batting with skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers sharing more than 700 runs among each other. However, their bowling attack has been quite pedestrian with no bowler having conceded less than 8 runs per over so far. The form of premier batsman Chris Gayle has also been a slight worry for them, even though it has not impacted their batting too much.

The Supergiants, on the other hand, are playing their debut season and have found it difficult to get going despite having a skipper of the calibre of MS Dhoni. They have lost most of their important foreign players like Kevin Pietersen, Faf du Plessis, Steven Smith and Mitchell Marsh to injuries. They did manage to register a win in their last game against a strong Delhi Daredevils and need to carry on winning matches to have any chance of reaching the playoffs.

It is expected to be a tough fight between two teams which are still on the lookout to get their campaigns back on track in the 2016 IPL.

Venue: Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Match date: 7 May 2016

Match timings: 16:00 IST, 10:30 GMT

If Royal Challengers Bangalore bat first

Predicted score: 180 and above

With the likes of Kohli and AB de Villiers firing all cylinders, RCB have regularly been scoring big in the tournament. The inclusion of KL Rahul into the team has only added to their batting firepower as the Karnataka batsman already has 3 half-centuries in the tournament. The success of the other top-order batsmen has covered up for Gayle's failures in the 3 innings he has played this season.

A slight worry for the Royal Challengers Bangalore batting has been their middle order. However, one needs to consider the fact that there is not much time to settle down at the stage when they walk in to bat as the top order plays out most of the overs in the innings. 

The problem for the Bangalore team has been their bowling department. The bowlers have not been able to defend the massive totals that the batsmen put on the board. This is orchestrated by the fact that an all-rounder like Shane Watson is the leading wicket-taker for them in this year's IPL whereas the regular bowlers have been struggling.

The form of the spinners has also been quite poor as bowlers such as Yuzvendra Chahal and Iqbal Abdulla failing to pick up enough wickets. New recruit Tabraiz Shamsi started off well for RCB but has been struggling in the past couple of matches.

The Challengers will need to make some changes to their bowling attack in the upcoming match against RPS. Skipper Kohli is highly likely to bring England pacer Chris Jordan into action today to add an edge to his pace attack. If Jordan plays today, he will probably be replacing chinaman bowler Shamsi in the playing XI.

If Rising Pune Supergiants bat first

Predicted score: 170 and above

With suitable replacements flown in for the injured players in their squad, the Supergiants team has a slightly more settled look to it compared to what it was in the initial stages. Ajinkya Rahane has been leading the way for the RPS batting line-up and has scored as many as 5 fifties already.

Aussie Usman Khawaja has also shown glimpses of good form in the only innings that he has played this season. Left-handed batsman Saurabh Tiwary, too, seems to be thriving in his new role as part of the top order. Skipper Dhoni has been struggling a bit but has still managed to score some useful runs in the middle-order.

All-rounder Thisara Perera has struck a few lusty blows at the end of the innings and has also been RPS' top wicket-taker in the tournament. The inclusion of George Bailey is set to lend some amount of stability to the batting line-up, even though he did not get to bat in the previous game.

As far as Pune's bowling is concerned, they have received a major boost ever since Ashok Dinda has been added to the team. The Indian fast bowler has grabbed 7 wickets in just 4 matches so far and looks quite hungry for success. Australian pacer Scott Boland has also impressed in his 2 matches thus far.

Murugan Ashwin has surprisingly been the leading spinner for RPS with 7 wickets despite the presence of Ravichandran Ashwin in the team. The senior Ashwin has been struggling and has taken just 3 wickets in 9 games. Medium pacer Rajat Bhatia has been among the most reliable bowlers for the Supergiants with 6 wickets and an economy rate of under 7.

MS Dhoni is likely to stick with the same team that emerged victorious over a dominant Delhi Daredevils side in Pune's previous match.

Probable Winners: Rising Pune Supergiants.