IPL 5 Preview: Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Deccan Chargers Match 50
Royal Challengers Bangalore are set to host Deccan Chargers, on Sunday, May 6, 2012, in what is likely to be crucial to their chances of qualification to the play off round.
For RCB, the ideal thing would be to win the game and pray that CSK lose to Mumbai in the other match of the day. That would propel Vettori’s men to fourth place ahead of CSK. To achieve that they will need much more resolve than their batsmen displayed against KXIP in their last game when they slumped to 158/5 after a good start which saw them at 126/1 after 15 overs. But with Kohli getting runs to join the other big scorers, Gayle and De Villiers,the batting is the least worrisome aspect of RCB’s game.
Their real concern is in the bowling department and they appear to lack wicket taking bowlers, with their best man, Muralitharan consigned to the bench. While Vettori would be understandably reluctant to drop himself to accommodate Murali, Dilshan’s mediocre form with the bat should give the RCB skipper the cue to bring in Murali in place of MCdOnald who replaced Dilshan against KXIP but did not do much to justify his inclusion.
The DC batting has been improving steadily with more and more men getting into form. The latest was Christian who struck a few lusty blows against CSK though he could not prevent his side’s loss by 10 runs chasing a target of 161. With Dhwan, White and Sangakkara among the runs, and Parthiv Patel to a lesser extent, the visitors on Sunday have few worries in the batting department.
The bowlers did a reasonable job against Chennai and but for a late flourish, might have kept Dhoni’s men to about 150. Among the young Indians, Jhunjhunwala, Sharma and Reddy bowled economically, while VP Singh picked up a couple of wickets.
RCB should be considered favourites though, if DC win the toss and bat first, they are capable of setting a huge target. That said, DC’s fielding has been abysmal and if the likes of Gayle and De Villiers get going, it will be interesting to see whether DC bowlers and fielders can withstand the pressure.
RCB’s probable eleven: Agarwal, Gayle, Kohli, De Villiers, Pathan, Tiwary, Vettori, Kumar, Khan, Appanna, Muralitharan.
DC’s probable eleven: Patel, Dhawan, White, Sangakkara, Christian, Reddy, Jhunjhunwala, Sharma, Mishra, Steyn, VP Singh
About the Author (Author Profile)
Jinxatious is the Chief Editor of SportingAttitude.com
An avid writer, on an eclectic range of subjects, he brings to bear editorial experience garnered with a national newspaper in South-East Asia. He also has sportscasting experience, as a cricket commentator, and his passion for sport extends beyond Cricket, to Football, Tennis, and Olympic Sports.
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