Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have a 100 percent
record thus far in the Pepsi IPL 2014, will clash with the Kolkata Knight
Riders in Match 11 of the season.
Both teams rejoin the tournament after four-day
break. RCB trounced the Delhi Daredevils in their opening match and then rolled
over the defending champions, Mumbai Indians, in their next outing. The Kolkata
Knight Riders caused an upset in the very first match of Pepsi IPL 2014 when
they defeated MI by 41 runs. In their second outing, they lost a close contest
after the Delhi Daredevils prevailed in their chase of 167, getting home by
four wickets with three balls to spare.
RCB are loaded with ample ammunition on the batting
front – even without Chris Gayle whose participation in this match remains in
doubt. Meanwhile, KKR definitely possess riches on the bowling front – in terms
of experience, variety and match-winners.
The unassuming Parthiv Patel has been RCB’s top
run-getter in the competition so far – playing useful hands in both his team’s
wins. Yet, the ones to keep an eye on are skipper Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers,
Yuvraj Singh and Albie Morkel – who can win matches single-handedly.
KKR too have enough depth in their batting – Piyush
Chawla bats at No.8. But the one who holds the key to their success is their
skipper, Gautam Gambhir. After two outings in Pepsi IPL 2014, the southpaw is
yet to open his account, and he will be keen to avoid a hat-trick of ducks.
Jacques Kallis will yet again be expected to play the anchor role, while Manish
Pandey, who looked good in both the previous matches, will be keen to carry on
his good form.
The one bowler whose four overs promise to be
sensational is KKR’s Sunil Narine. The Trinidadian has played over 100 T20
matches and has bowled 2599 deliveries in this format, yet batsmen around the
world struggle to pick him. His figures in Pepsi IPL 2014 read 8-0-38-5, which
indicate to an economy of 4.75 and a strike-rate of a wicket every 9.6
deliveries; it will be interesting to see how the RCB batsmen play out his four
overs.
Notes from previous Match
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians: RCB
will count themselves lucky given their lapses in the field did not cost them
too much. Two catches were grassed and a run-out opportunity was fluffed – yet
RCB managed to keep MI down to 115.
Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils: KKR too
were rusty on the field in their previous outing. Not only did they concede
five runs through misfields, they also gave away some extra runs by not backing
up returns from the outfield. The one other area of note that calls for
improvement is converting the number of singles into more productive strokes –
in a format where more is merrier, these finer things could make a difference.
Previous Meetings
The Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight
Riders have shared honors in the 12 meetings between them – both teams have won
six matches each. Even in the previous season, the teams shared the honours by
winning their respective home matches; RCB chased down 158 to win by eight
wickets in Bangalore, while KKR chased down 116 in Ranchi to win by five
wickets.
Among the memorable matches between these two teams
is the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League – back on April 18, 2008 –
when Brendon McCullum blazed his way to a record-breaking 158. Among others,
Chris Gayle struck a century in his very first outing in RCB colours – and that
happened to come against his former team, KKR!
Trivia
Jacques Kallis & Gautam Gambhir will be
keener than ever to get off the dreaded duck. They share the dubious record –
along with Amit Mishra – for being dismissed on nought most often in the IPL –
nine times each.
53.6 percent of Manish Pandey’s 112 runs in Pepsi
IPL 2014 have come in the quadrant covering the midwicket and long-off regions.
What Next
Both teams will be seen in action next on Saturday,
April 26 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. While RCB will be seen in
action earlier in the evening when they square off against the Rajasthan
Royals, the Kolkata Knight Riders will face Kings XI Punjab later in the
evening.