Navdeep Saini was the hero for RCB when he bowled the Super Over against Mumbai Indians. (BCCI/IPL)Rajasthan Royals will look to start afresh against Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League clash on Saturday. This is the first match that will be played in the afternoon as it starts at 3:30 pm IST. Royals are enjoying a good outing so far, but they faced a crushing 37-run defeat in the previous encounter. Meanwhile, RCB stand at the sixth position, one below Royals, on the points table with two wins from three games.
In the second match tonight, Delhi Capitals will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. KKR will enter the contest on the back of a great win, but Delhi, on the other hand, would look to regain the winning momentum in the clash tonight. The Shreyas Iyer-led team endured a 15-run defeat in their previous encounter.
Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith wins the toss and opt to bat first against Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore. Follow the Indian Express Live Blog for further live match score and updates.
RCB kicked off their campaign with a win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) but lost their second game of the season against Kings XI Punjab. RCB though managed to return to winning ways after they beat Mumbai Indians (MI) in a thrilling Super Over-finish in their third game. Meanwhile, RR registered two wins in as many games – against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and KXIP.
However, KKR denied Steve Smith and Co. a hat-trick of wins, handing them their first loss of the tournament. Both the teams will now be seeking their third win of the season and these are the players who could play a decisive role in the outcome of the game.
Boasting an explosive batting line-up that complements their affective death bowling, Mumbai Indians will have their nose ahead in the IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday.To add to SRH’s worry, doubts remained over lead seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s participation in the match.
While in the second match,hit hard by a start that least defines them, Chennai Super Kings would be desperate to find answers to their predicament when they take on Kings XI Punjab. So used to be on top of their game in the previous editions, sitting at the bottom of the points table now with three losses in four matches is an unknown territory for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side. [Read Full Article]
Of all the talented cricketers that Shane Warne has seen over the years, Sanju Samson is the one that strikes him as “something else” and the Rajasthan Royals mentor feels that the big-hitting batsman would become an India regular in all formats if this IPL goes well for him.
Warne, the IPL-winning former Royals captain and brand ambassador, believes the day is not far away.
Royal Challengers Bangalore has come up with a unique “mentorship programme” where young cricketers of the IPL outfit have been paired with like-minded seniors who can groom their talent.
Explaining this initiative, RCB director of cricket Mike Hesson said every cricketer of the team is paired with a “buddy” from the side, giving each other an opportunity to learn, mentor and share.
For example, young opening batsman Devdutt Padikkal has been paired with skipper Virat Kohli, while paceman Navdeep Saini has been paired with veteran South African speedster Dale Steyn.
Rajasthan Royals batsman Robin Uthappa admitted his team’s failure to adjust to the slowness of the Dubai strip after a couple success on Sharjah batting belters was the reason for their 37-run defeat against KKR in the Indian Premier League.
Defending 175, Kolkata Knight Riders bowlers wreaked havoc against the in-form Rajasthan Royals batting to have them tottering at 88/8 inside 15 overs before Tom Curran’s 54 not out reduced their margin of defeat.
“Towards the end, the wicket (pitch) was getting a little tired (slow), so stopping a little bit. So yeah, in hindsight, we definitely felt maybe we would have taken a little bit more time to get adjusted and then taken the attack to the bowlers,” Uthappa said at the virtual post-match news conference.
England and Rajasthan Royals player Jos Buttler feels the absence of crowds can help the youngsters lose fear factor when they are up against the likes of MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli.
“I also wonder if over time, pressure will be a little bit different. I think Dhoni or a Kohli, when they stride to wicket, the crowd is usually going crazy. Obviously, that doesn’t happen behind closed doors. Maybe that might help some of the younger guys who are playing against them as they might lose some of the fear factor as the crowd aren’t on their back,” Jos Buttler told the podcast ‘The Analyst inside cricket’.
RCB: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers(w), Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav
RR: Jos Buttler(w), Steven Smith(c), Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Tom Curran, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, David Miller, Varun Aaron
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers(w), Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Adam Zampa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Dale Steyn, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Chris Morris, Pavan Deshpande, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Philippe, Shahbaz Ahmed
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler(w), Steven Smith(c), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Tom Curran, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot, David Miller, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Varun Aaron, Aniruddha Joshi, Manan Vohra, Andrew Tye, Shashank Singh, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Mayank Markande, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh
For RCB spinner Yuzvendra Chahal competing in the conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is proving to be quite a challenge.
"As a wrist-spinner, the wind and dew factors are challenging for wrist-spinners, and sometimes it’s very hard. In Dubai, the weather is extremely humid and as the dew settles and it becomes even more challenging for a leggie," Chahal said in a response to the indianexpress.com during a virtual press interaction.
In IPL 2020, the 30-year-old has snared five victims in three matches with his 3/15 against SRH proving to be a match-winning performance.
RCB have made a promising start but need to improve their fielding and death bowling. Navdeep Saini bowled a tidy Super Over against Mumbai Indians to get his team over the line after RCB leaked as many as 79 runs in the last four overs for the game to be tied.
The Bangalore franchise made three changes in the previous clash and are likely to give those players – Isuru Udana, Adam Zampa and Gurkeerat Mann – another go.
The move to open the bowling with Washington Sundar paid off as the offie returned with figures of 12 for one in four overs in a game where more than 400 runs were scored.
Ab de Villiers has shown ominous touch and it must be heartening for the team management to see Shivam Dube providing the big hits towards the end against Mumbai Indians.
Skipper Kohli is yet to set the tournament on fire and Saturday could be his day.
With the batsmen unable to hit through the line as consistently as they could do in Sharjah, Royals failed to chase 175 against KKR on Wednesday.
Since they have a settled overseas players’ combination, one possible change in the eleven could be replacing pacer Ankit Rajpoot with Varun Aaron, who is yet to get a game.
The team has benched young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal after Jos Buttler’s arrival but calls have been growing for his inclusion. With the top three picking themselves, the stylish southpaw can only play in the middle order.
The dew factor will go out of the window but the searing heat will be an issue when Royal Challengers Bangalore take on a better prepared Rajasthan Royals in the first of the 10 IPL double-headers on Saturday.
Having played their first two games at Sharjah, the smallest of the three venues, Royals got their strategy wrong in the game against Kolkata Knight Riders in Dubai.
The ground here too is on the bigger side and Royals’ experience of playing in Dubai will help them take more informed decisions. RCB will also be making their first appearance at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Hello and welcome to the LIVE COVERAGE of the Indian Premier League matches between Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders. This is the first double-header in the ongoing session and it will be interesting to see how players cope up with the heat and intensity in the afternoon clash. The match between RCB and RR will start at 3:30 pm IST.