BENGALURU: Royal Challengers Bangalore will be looking to take the confidence from their last night’s nerve-wracking one-run victory when they clash with Mumbai Indians, who suffered a humiliating defeat in their previous game, in an IPL match here tomorrow.
Currently lying at a lowly sixth position in the points table, a win will be crucial for the Royal Challengers to keep their hopes of making the IPL playoffs alive.
Snapping the three-match losing streak with back-to-back victories against Rising Pune Supergiants and Kings XI Punjab is expected to hold them in good stead when they play at their own backyard at the Chinnaswamy stadium here.
In fact, their victory in a nail-biting finish over Kings XI Punjab in Mohali last night should give the Bangalore outfit a lot of confidence.
A loss tomorrow, however, will land them in big trouble and it would become tougher for them to enter the playoffs.
All eyes once again will be on skipper Virat Kohli, whose performance in the ongoing IPL has left oppositions dumbstruck. He is leading the batting chart with 561 runs so far, which includes two centuries and four half-tons.
Besides the captain, RCB have also been relying heavily on their star batsman A B de Villiers. The South African proved his prowess yet again last night when he hit a 35-ball 64 to guide the team to a competitive 175. Opener KL Rahul (42) also chipped in with important contribution.
Rahul and all-rounder Shane Watson have proved to be important cogs in Bangalore’s wheels with some crucial knocks.
With the likes of Chris Gayle warming the bench, the Royal Challengers perhaps have the most intimidating batting line-up, but their pedestrian bowling attack has failed to defend 180-plus scores in most of the matches.
Their two best performers with the ball have been Watson and Yuzvendra Chahal but the likes of Stuart Binny, Varun Aaron and Chris Jordan have all leaked runs.
Come tomorrow, RCB bowlers would have to put up a much better performance to support the team’s batting department.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians would be keen to make quick amends from their humiliating 85-run defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad in their previous match.
Placed fifth in the table with 10 points, Mumbai Indians have a great chance of displacing Delhi Daredevils from number four position in the table and entering the top-four bracket with a win against the home team here. (AGENCIES)
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