DD vs RCB IPL 2018 Match 45 preview: Bangalore take on Delhi in a must win game

Delhi Daredevils (DD) welcome fellow strugglers Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to the Feroz Shah Kotla for match 45 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.

The last time these two teams played each other, RCB won the game by six wickets, riding on an AB de Villiers’ masterpiece where he scored an unbeaten 90 off just 39 balls.

Delhi come into this game following a heavy defeat to the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Rishabh Pant put on a great batting display scoring an unbeaten 128 off just 63 deliveries. However, his knock proved to be in vain as Hyderabad’s Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson strung together the highest partnership of the season (176 off just 102 balls), to take the Sunrisers into the playoffs with a nine-wicket win.

RCB have had a dismal season so far winning just three out of their 10 games. Their latest defeat too came at the hands of a dominant Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) unit. RCB put in a good bowling performance as they managed to restrict SRH to just 146 runs. However, the Sunrisers bowling attack have been second to none this season and put up another spectacular performance, bowling out the RCB men for just 141 runs and taking their team to a 5-run victory.

Match Details:

Timing – 8 pm

Venue – Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

Where to watch – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD and Hotstar

Head to head – RCB have been the dominant side in the past, having emerged winners on 13 occasions out of the 20 times that these two teams have faced each other. More recently, RCB have remained unbeaten in their last five visits to the Feroz Shah Kotla.

Team News:

For the Royal Challengers, Quinton de Kock is back from South Africa and should take his place back in the squad at the expense of Parthiv Patel.

Delhi who are now just playing for pride, could be tempted to shake things up and hand opportunities to players who haven’t had a chance to participate so far in the tournament.

Prediction: who will win?

With Bangalore still having a chance to qualify, they will come out fully motivated to win this tie. Surprisingly it was their batting order that failed them in their previous tie and they will be looking to correct that this time out. They would however take heart from their bowling performance against SRH and hope their bowlers can come up with the goods once again tonight.

Betting odds: According to Oddscheker.com the odds are placed at 6/5 for DD and 3/4 for RCB.

Feroz Shah Kotla Pitch Report: The pitch at the Kotla has been slow and without much bounce on offer. However, the small boundaries help the batsmen clear the ropes easily as exhibited by Rishabh Pant in their previous game. The last three matches here have all been high scoring encounters and we should be in for another slugfest tonight.

MC Dream XI: R Pant (wk), de Villiers, V Kohli, P Shaw, S Iyer, de Grandhomme, Y Chahal, A Mishra, U Yadav, T Southee and T Boult.

Players to watch out for:

Rishabh Pant (DD) – The young wicket keeper has had his moments with regards to the running between wickets as he ran out both Iyer and Patel in the previous game. However, he more than made up for it with as he powered his way to the highest individual total of the season scoring 128* off just 63 deliveries at a strike rate of 203.17.

Umesh Yadav (RCB) – Yadav has been in sensational form this season having accumulated 14 wickets from just 10 games so far. His bowling in the Powerplay overs has been crucial for RCB to keep a lid on the scoring while he also picks up timely wickets often dismissing the openers. RCB will depend heavily on him to contain dangerous Delhi batting attack.