IPL match preview: Bangalore seek revenge in Chennai showdown

Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore will lock horns on Friday night. The Yellow Army won the first time the two sides clashed in the India-leg of this season.

Both the CSK and RCB have been right beside each other on the points table. As of September 23, Dhoni’s men rest at the second spot with 12 points while Virat Kohli’s side have 10.

Both teams have played eight games so far, but CSK have been a tad better in the campaign than their next opponents.

Predicted playing XI

CSK

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Josh Hazlewood, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.

RCB

Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Srikar Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Sachin Baby, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Best probable performers

Ruturaj Gaikwad

Gaikwad’s development as a Chennai opener has been massive. He started off the season in India with a series of low scores, but was quick to catch up and rise to the occasion. He has now become Chennai’s go-to batter in nail-biting scenarios.

In the last game, Chennai defeated defending champs Mumbai Indians by 20 runs. Thanks to Gaikwad’s unbeaten knock of 88*, Dhoni’s bowlers had something to defend for their team.

Moeen Ali

Despite his three-ball duck in the MI game, Moeen Ali is likely to make it big in the next clash, The Englishman has been prolific for Chennai with the bat and ball.

He has the ability to change the game in a matter of overs, something that has prompted the CSK management to promote him to No. 3.

When he comes to bowl in the middle overs, the right-arm off-spinner keeps the economy tight and helps other CSK bowlers feast on the wickets.

Glenn Maxwell

The Australian batting all-rounder needs no introduction. Joining the ranks of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers has only helped him elevate his skills. If Maxwell gets going till the death overs, Bangalore are looking at a big total to defend.

The right-handed batter fell early in the last KKR game, but one can never rule him out of the campaign due to one bad game.

Match prediction

CSK have the upper hand. They’ve already outplayed RCB once this season and they’re brimming with confidence after beating the reigning IPL champions. On the other hand, Bangalore were bundled out for merely 92 runs in their last clash.

While many had declared RCB the favourite against KKR, it turned out to be a one-sided contest for Kolkata. It will be an uphill task for the Bangalore side to beat Chennai at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday.