IPL 2019: RCB v KXIP: Match Preview, Players to watch, Pitch Report, Likely XI

RCB look to continue winning momentum, King's XI bank on Chris Gayle

Both teams are coming after contrasting results. While RCB got over the line courtesy of a brilliant last ball throw from Parthiv Patel against CSK, the Kings XI lost handsomely to a superior Delhi Capitals unit by 5 wickets.

R Ashwin was visibly unhappy over the team's inability to win the clash against Delhi Capitals and would be hoping for his troops to provide a conclusive touch to the game against RCB. Among others, Ankit Rajpoot, Sam Curran, Hardus Viljoen and Andrew Tye will also be looking to provide depth to the Kings XI bowling. The Punjab side is at number 5 on the points table after 9 matches.

Royal Challengers Bangalore will aim to make it 4 wins in a row and keep themselves afloat in the competition. The close triumph against CSK was RCB's third win in 10 games in the season so far.

KL Rahul and David Miller have performed sporadically and will need to be more consistent if Punjab is to stake a genuine claim for a playoff birth.

As the campaign had started it looked RCB are set for a repeat of the previous season but have found new hope after the batting has come together well. Bowling remains a worry for RCB despite the arrival of Dale Steyn. It was exposed once again in the last match when Dhoni almost scored 26 runs off the last over bowled by Umesh Yadav.

Head to Head

The two teams have played 23 matches against each other. KXIP have won 12 matches while RCB has won 11 matches.

Pitch and Weather

Bangalore's track in a batting friendly one. Expect good carry from the pitch and a high scoring fixture this one. Two of the last 3 games in Chinnaswamy have been won by the chasing side and with dew on the cards, any score could be chased. No rains are expected.

The MVPs

Virat Kohli – Not because of his perennial threat but because of the way he batted against KKR, his sublime century off 58 balls was rated as one of the best in IPL 2019.

Chris Gayle - With 421 runs Chris Gayle is KXIP top run scorer this season and the men in red would expect him to blast the bowling attack of his previous IPL side.

Stats Attack

1. Navdeep Saini has had the best dot-ball percentage in the entire IPL with 45 of his deliveries falling on the sweet spot.

2. RCB were the superior side when both met in Punjab as Virat made 67 and de Villiers smashed an unbeaten 59.

3. Yuzvendra Chahal needs just one wicket to bag 50 wickets at this venue. His 49 wickets triumph is the highest wicket tally for any bowler on this batsman-friendly pitch.

4. Umesh Yadav, the bowler under the radar after a shocking last over against CSK, should take confidence from the fact that he has taken 26 wickets against KXIP, earning him five players of the match awards as well.

Prediction: It does look difficult to stop the rolling motion RCB have set themselves in.

Probable Playing XI:

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Virat Kohli (capt), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Akshdeep Nath, 7 Pawan Negi, 8 Umesh Yadav, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Kings XI Punjab: 1 KL Rahul (wk), 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 David Miller, 5 Mandeep Singh, 6 Sarfaraz Khan, 7 R Ashwin (capt), 8 Hardus Viljoen, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 M Ashwin

Broadcast details:

Timing – 8 pm

Venue – M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

Where to watch – Star Sports 1/1HD/1 Hindi/1HD Hindi/1 Tamil/1 Telugu/1 Kannada/1 Bangla/Select 1/Select 1HD. Online viewers can catch the action live on Hotstar.