After a disastrous performance at this season’s IPL with just 2 wins from 9 matches, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) are now hoping to win the remaining games to keep their dream of reaching play-off stage alive. But it is not only going to be difficult but pretty impossible too. Kohli-led RCB will clash against the Smith-led Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) on Saturday at Pune.
IPL 2017 Live Score: Rising Pune Supergiant vs Royal Challengers Bangalore #IPL
Interestingly, RPS were also going through a bad phase, but somehow they have entered into the top four position of IPL points table. But they are yet to secure their spot at play-off as of now.
Also Read: IPL 2017: Complete fixtures, schedule and time in IST with venue details
A couple of wins for the bottom ranked teams would literally disturb their position. So, Captain Steven Smith must be looking forward to consolidate his team’s ranking first with as many as 7 consecutive wins.
Team News for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS)
Dhoni’s regaining of form is a big bonus for RPS team. He demonstrated his batting prowess with a fabulous fifty against the defending champions SRH a few days back. Also, he played well against KKR. Fans can expect another blinder from the veteran cricketer at Pune.
RPS batsmen are doing pretty well with the bat at this moment. Their openers Rahane and Tripathi are doing commendable job while the middle order batsmen; Dhoni, Smith and others are also picking up their forms now.
However, RPS’s bowling is a big concern. Both Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur have to improve their bowling at death overs. As usual, massive expectations will be there from the international superstars; Imran Tahir and Ben Stokes with the ball at Saturday’s IPL game.
Team News for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
A high-tension IPL battle is anticipated between these two teams. RCB’s big worry is the way its batsmen are playing these days. With top-order comprising the likes of Gayle, Kohli, De Villiers and Watson are not clicking; it would be unfair to blame the team’s middle order batsmen for their poor performance with the bat. RCB’s middle order performed lustreless last year too.
However, RCB skipper Virat Kohli is expected to play well against RPS to lead his side with an example. Kohli garnered 164 runs from 5 matches with two fifties at this IPL. He was dismissed at a paltry score (10) against Gujarat Lions at RCB’s last match but Kohli is in good form and can bounce back any time.
Humongous amount of expectations will be there from Ab De Villiers as well. He is a player to bank upon in crunchy situations. De Villiers-Kohli combo was the architect of RCB’s successful IPL campaign last year reaching into the final. Amongst the bowlers, both Chahal and Badree are doing exceedingly well.
Predicted Playing XI (Both Teams)
Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS): Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Steven Smith(Captain), Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni (Wicket Keeper), Manoj Tiwary, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir and Jaydev Unadkat.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli (Captain), Mandeep Singh, AB de Villiers, Kedar Jadhav(Wicket Keeper), Stuart Binny, Pawan Negi, Samuel Badree, Sreenath Aravind, Yuzvendra Chahal and Tymal Mills.
Head-to-head: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have 2-1 win-loss record against Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in three matches.
Match Result Prediction: Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) will win the match.
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, Pune. The match will telecast live on SONY ESPN from 4 PM onwards.
Tags: #IPL, Indian Premier League, IPL 10, IPL 2017, Live Score, RCB, Rising Pune Supergiant, Royal Challengers Bangalore, RPS, VIVO IPL
